


7 Days of Kim Seungmin

by tuanpark



Category: GOT7, K-pop, Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, It's honestly just a whole Kim Seungmin Love Fest, Kim Seungmin-centric, M/M, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2019-10-19 06:35:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17596289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tuanpark/pseuds/tuanpark
Summary: Seungmin has never had a Valentine before, so it’s really weird that Seungmin gets love notes leading up to Valentine’s Day. Upon doing some detective work, Seungmin narrows it down to three possible suitors: his hagwon buddy Lee Felix, his baseball teammate Hwang Hyunjin, and his best friend Han Jisung. The worst part is… Seungmin doesn’t know which one he prefers.(The order in which the ships are tagged doesn't signify importance! I just tagged it by age.)





	1. His Cherry-Red Hair~

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! This is my first Stray Kids fic! This work is not proofread, so I apologize for the mistakes that you see. This will have 7 main chapters. The last chapter will be a surprise! I hope you're looking forward to what I have in store for this.
> 
> Comments and kudos are very much appreciated! If you like this story, please give it a thumbs up! If you have comments, please don't hesitate to post in the comment section!
> 
> I'm a GotStay, so if you wanna scream about them with me, follow me on my twitter [@m0rkjin](https://twitter.com/m0rkjin)
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters, and all the scenes written are pure fiction.

It’s almost Valentine’s Day.

It’s not that Seungmin hates Valentine’s Day. It’s just that he despises being reminded of the fact that he’s still single. And yes, he knows that finding love or meeting the one isn’t the main goal in life, but it sure is hard to have that mindset when the media, the internet, and his real life all point otherwise.

He has grown up to be quite the salty romantic, due to the serious amount of teenage chick flicks that his older sister has made him watch. Posts all over his social media also fuel such construct with photos captioned with _my partner this_ , or _my girlfriend this_ , or _my boyfriend that_. Worst yet is when he goes grocery shopping with his mom, and a whole aisle is adorned with tasty chocolates and pink hearts and red notecards and cute teddy bears. And it’s all both annoying and adorable at the same time.

Because although he hates being reminded of the unfortunate fact that he’s single, he truly likes the idea of love. Unlucky for his romantic soul, he has never had a real Valentine before (no, the preschool Valentine notes and candies don’t count). Which is why he’s so surprised when, a week before Valentine’s Day, he finds a sky blue note taped to his desk.

The note is cut into a heart, the blue paper standing out against his plain, cream-colored desk. The romanization of his name is written on the card in cursive followed by a short yet incredibly cheesy poem.

 _Day 1: Kim Seungmin <3 _  
_Roses are red, forget-me-nots are blue,_ _  
Your cherry-red hair makes me go uwu!_

Seungmin scans it once, twice, three times to make sure that it’s meant for him. It does, in fact, say Seungmin. And it does, in fact, say his cherry-red hair makes the person’s heart go uwu. Surprised and slightly embarrassed, Seungmin looks around to see if anybody is watching him, hand unconsciously reaching up to the tips his scarlet hair. As usual, nobody pays him any attention except his best friend Jisung. (Technically he’s his only friend, but that doesn’t diminish the depth of their friendship).

“Did you see who put this here?” He whispers to Jisung, the love note held in place between his pointing and middle finger.

“No,” the other boy shrugs, looking slightly disinterested but smiling nonetheless. “I read it though. It’s pretty cute.”

It’s definitely cute, but Seungmin frowns because it’s all very fishy. Nobody has ever given Seungmin any type of note before, especially not one this adorable, and most definitely not leading to Valentine’s Day. But upon reading it once again, Seungmin can’t help the giddy feeling that tickles his chest. He turns the card over to see if there’s a signature on the back.

There isn’t. But there is another sentence, and it makes Seungmin’s tummy feel funny.

_Things I adore about Kim Seungmin: (1) his cherry-red hair~_

He almost gasps. There’s no way this is real. Seungmin surveys the surroundings once more, eyes accidentally making contact with his baseball teammate Hyunjin. The taller boy gives him a hello gesture with his hand along with a crooked smile, and Seungmin returns it with an awkward wave. Hyunjin usually sits in the back, too many people complaining about how his height makes it hard to see for the people behind him. And though Seungmin is almost the same height, nobody has complained about him sitting somewhere in the middle rows.

He continues his search, eyes flitting over a gaggle of students that he never really talks to, before resting on a familiar mop of orange hair somewhere on the front row. As if sensing that Seungmin is looking at him, Felix turns around, orange locks twisting with the motion. Felix gives him a breath-taking smile and an encouraging fist before mouthing ‘fighting!’ Seungmin returns it with a smile and a ‘fighting!’ of his own.

Their homeroom teacher Mr. Tuan strides in, depositing his messenger bag on his desk. This prompts all of the students to turn their heads towards the teacher, giving him their full, undivided attention. Seungmin can almost hear the soft sighs from half the students at the beauty of their young teacher. He can’t really blame them since Mr. Tuan is unfairly pretty, especially with office casual attire. He wonders if the students know about the young teacher’s infatuation with the librarian.

Mr. Tuan does his usual morning greeting. It’s infinitely adorable, and Seungmin has almost memorized it by heart.

“Good morning, class and welcome! I hope you are all doing well, and I hope this lecture does nothing to change that.”

The whole class takes out their notebooks and writing utensils, ready to jot down whatever Mr. Tuan is going to regurgitate from their textbook. Seungmin, giving his heart-shaped card a glance, pulls out a folder and tucks the note neatly inside one of its flaps. Satisfied, he puts it back in his bag before finding his Math notebook and his favorite pencil.

“Last week, we talked about anti-derivatives. This week, we’ll be going a step further and venturing into the world of indefinite integrals.”

And then Seungmin finds himself zoning out for the rest of class, jotting down letters and symbols that his teacher writes on the flat LCD screen with a virtual marker. For a Math class, Calculus equations sure do lack numbers. He looks over to his left, seeing Jisung’s head making a drunk back-and-forth motion, surely beginning to nod off. Seungmin chuckles to himself before writing down some simple and common examples of integrals that may or may not come up in tonight’s homework.

When lunchtime comes, Jisung immediately drags him to the cafeteria by the hand. “Hurry up, best friend. One of the sides they’re serving today is _pajeon_ , and I sure as hell will not be late for it again.”

Seungmin huffs but follows him nonetheless. Sure enough, when they get there, the queue for lunch food is still pretty short. They both pick up a tray, a pair of chopsticks, and a spoon before they stand in line.

“How do you even know what they have today?” Seungmin asks incredulously, tippy-toeing to see what’s being served.

“They serve the same things on the same days, best. Mondays are obviously _kimchi jjigae_ and _pajeon_ day,” Jisung snorts. Seungmin wonders how he remembers these tiny details when he can’t even remember the year the Korean War started.

When Seungmin gets served his lunch, he’s not surprised by the items on the menu. Like Jisung predicted, the main course was  _kimchi jjigae_ accompanied with rice, noodles, nori seaweed, more _kimchi_ , and a mini _pajeon_. They find a seat in their usual table, talking about whatever comes to mind.

“Sho hoo ju ding ish fum?” Jisung tries to say between mouthfuls of food, eyes looking flitty. Seungmin snorts at the way Jisung quite literally stores food in his cheeks, not unlike the way squirrels stuff their cheeks full with whatever they find.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Seungmin lectures him softly. “Or else people won’t understand what you’re saying.”

Rolling his eyes, Jisung finishes his chewing before he starts again. “So who do you think it’s from?”

“The note?”

Jisung nods. Seungmin shrugs. “I don’t know. But I sure hope it’s not from Hayoon. I once saw her pick something up off the ground and eat it.”

Jisung scoffs. “Hey, I do that! Don’t knock it till you try it.”

“I’d rather suck my own toes than eat something off the floor,” Seungmin shudders, mentally bleaching his tongue. “You know full well I’m not fond of germs.”

The shorter boy laughs. “And that’s why you’re always sick, and I have the immune system of an alligator.”

And then Jisung is attacking him with his chopsticks, using them like it’s the mouth of an alligator. Seungmin, already familiar with his best friend’s antics, quickly joins and defends himself with a chopstick on each hand, making humming and buzzing noises as he twirls his chopsticks like lightsabers. Half the cafeteria give them weird glances and side eyes, but they don’t care. They’re used to it.

The day goes by pretty quickly, and before they know it, their last class is over. Jisung quickly gives him a goodbye hug and tells Seungmin to text him once he’s home. Seungmin nods and Jisung goes towards the cubbies before switching his indoor shoes with outdoor ones and speeding out of the classroom. Unlike Jisung, Seungmin attends extracurriculars each weekday. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are reserved for baseball practice while Tuesday and Thursday are saved for _hagwon_.

“Seungminnie,” someone says from behind him. And he already knows who it is from the way their voice goes up at the end.

“Hyunjin-ssi,” Seungmin turns around. Sure enough, the lanky boy is standing in front of him looking like he just walked straight out of a magazine, the top two buttons of his uniform undone with his blazer hanging from his hand. He’s carrying his backpack by one strap on his shoulder, and Seungmin admits that it makes him look unfairly cool.

“No need to be so polite all the time. I feel awkward if I call you Seungminnie and you respond with Hyunjin-ssi,” He laughs airily, crinkly eyes and crooked smile seemingly misplaced with his dashing aura. “We’re friends right?”

Seungmin supposes they are more than acquaintances, indeed. Upon closer inspection, he concludes that he does enjoy the older boy’s presence, so he guesses they are sort of friends. “Yes, you’re right. Do you prefer that I simply call you Hyunjin?”

“Absolutely,” the other boy instantly agrees, smile getting bigger than it already is. “Anyway, are you ready to go to practice?”

Seungmin nods. They change from indoor shoes to outdoor shoes and make their way towards the boys' locker room. Hyunjin is walking right beside him, head lolling from side to side like he’s listening to fluffy music. He feels the telltale buzz of a text message, and he immediately drags it out of his pocket to look at the notifications. There’s a text from Felix.

 _Felix:_ _  
_ _are u absolutely sure u don’t wanna go to hagwon today? Hahaha_

Seungmin snorts and begins typing his reply.

 _Seungmin:_ _  
_ _I know you know I can’t because of baseball practice -.-_

 _Felix:_ _  
_ _eh it was worth a try hahaha_

Seungmin shakes his head playfully before stocking his phone back in his pocket.

“You go to _hagwon_ with Felix?” There’s a tone in Hyunjin’s voice that Seungmin can’t quite place.

“You know it’s not nice to read people’s conversations over their shoulder,” Seungmin says with a smirk. It instantly brings Hyunjin to a stuttering mess.

“I didn’t mean to- I was just… I’m tall so I can see clearly. Though you’re right, I shouldn’t’ve-”

“I’m just joking, Hyunjin,” Seungmin says playfully. “And you’re not _that_ much taller than me.”

“Wanna bet?”

Seungmin confidently measures himself up against Hyunjin by standing face to face, and the way the other boy smells like an interesting mixture of the outdoors and, strangely, of honey has him a little dizzy.

“It’s a few centimeters,” Hyunjin chokes out.

“No,” Seungmin argues, stepping back and crossing his arms. “A couple of centimeters.”

“A few.”

“A couple.”

“Whatever.”

They spend the afternoon exercising so that their bodies are conditioned for swinging bats or pitching or running from one base to another. The sweltering heat has all of his team members dripping with sweat, but it’s really only Hyunjin that looks truly glistening.

There’s something about the way the tall boy runs, some of his hair sticking to his forehead while the rest bounce mesmerizingly in rhythm with his steps, the determined look in his eyes, the way his passion for the sport seems to be oozing from every pore of his body. Seungmin admires him a lot, wishes he was a little bit more like Hyunjin. But alas.

They work on swinging stance today, Seungmin feeling like a noodle compared to the other more athletic guys on the team. Coach Im continually corrects his posture, and Seungmin feels slightly humiliated at the fact that he’s the one that needs the most help. But it’s okay, he’s here to get better at the sport, to compete, not to give up because he may or may not be the lousiest on the team.

They spend the next hours swinging, the balls coming at high speed from a pitching machine. Of course, their star player Seojoon makes the most contact, Hyunjin a distant second. Unsurprisingly, Seungmin only does alright, hitting second to least compared to the rest of his teammates. Better than last week, at least.

They’re in the locker room when Hyunjin approaches him again.

“Practice was tough, huh,” the taller boy starts, sweat slowly drying against his face. There are still some beads resting on his cheeks though.

“Sure was,” Seungmin agrees. “Though you did pretty well during the batting session. As usual. Good job!”

“Thanks,” Hyunjin chuckles softly, hand coming to rest behind his neck. “You too. You hit more balls than you did last week!”

Seungmin laughs. “I suppose.” He’s not wrong about the hitting percentage. But to outright say that Seungmin also did well? That’s saying a bit much. Hyunjin wanders back to his locker. Seungmin unlocks his own so that he can begin changing, but one look around shows that all of his teammates, even Hyunjin, has beat him to it. They’re all shirtless or are already putting back on their schoolwear. Seungmin tries not to stare at anyone, lest his team members call him gay or something.

He’s not. He’s bisexual, so. Yeah. Changing time is always an awkward time for him. Anyway, he got a quick glance at Hyunjin’s wide back earlier. It looked milky, and Seungmin doesn’t know what to do with that information. Instead, he focuses on zipping his pants back up and buttoning his uniform. He’s the last one to finish, and Hyunjin is outside waiting for him.

“You always take so long,” Hyunjin whines. Seungmin doesn’t know if that’s a jab or if he’s simply being playful.

“You don’t have to wait for me,” Seungmin says tiredly.

“But then I won’t have anybody to ride the bus with, and that’s no fun.”

Seungmin snickers. “You big baby.”

They both live north of their school, and bus 4419 stops at both of their destinations. Seungmin, however, lives two stations farther than Hyunjin. When they sit down on the seats, Hyunjin offers his left earbud, and Seungmin takes it gratefully. It’s a melodic song about the harsh cold of winter, miracles, and meeting someone who melts their world into spring.

The song is nice. But his attention is broken by the surprising buzz of his phone. He immediately takes it out of his pocket and sees two notifications from Felix. Both of the messages are links to memes, one of Kim J*ng Un looking delighted at choking Sasuke, while another is of Vladimir P*tin looking equally happy doing the same thing. Seungmin can’t help but laugh at the stupidity of this meme.

 _Seungmin:_ _  
_ _asjdfhj I feel like someone is missing… It’s not an unholy trinity without you-know-who._

 _Felix:_ _  
_ _???_

Seungmin chuckles to himself. What the heck? He has to be joking.

 _Seungmin:_  
_Starts with T and ends with rump?_

 _Felix:_ _  
_ _ooooh, i gotchu._

Sure enough, after two minutes of waiting, the next message is Donal Tr*mp choking Sasuke.

 _Seungmin:_ _  
_ _Oh my god ashdg this meme is so funny but so dumb._

And then Hyunjin is tapping at Seungmin’s knees.

“Hmm?” The younger turns to him.

“It’s my stop,” Hyunjin states. “And I kind of need half of my earbuds back.”

“Right,” Seungmin totally forgot he was wearing it. “Here you go.”

“See you tomorrow~” Hyunjin says as he exits. Seungmin gives him a smile and a wave goodbye.

When Seungmin gets to his family’s apartment, he immediately takes off his shoes and gives his mom a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey sweetie,” she says. “I’m almost done with dinner. Why don’t you wash up first before we eat.”

Seungmin looks at the stovetop to see what she’s making. “Can I invite Ji for dinner?”

“If he hasn’t had dinner yet, then of course.”

Seungmin thanks his mom and hurries to his room. He knocks on his bedroom wall three times and pulls the sliding door open so he could get to the balcony. In exactly ten seconds, Jisung appears at the balcony next to Seungmin’s.

“Best friend!” He says in lieu of a greeting.

“Hey, Ji,” Seungmin responds happily. “What did you do today?”

Before Jisung has a chance to respond, Seungmin beats him to it. “Let me guess. You played Mario Kart, then made some _ramyeon_ , and then watched youtube videos on your phone.”

Jisung scoffs, hand on his heart in mock offense. “Excuse you, I watched youtube videos first before eating and playing Mario Kart. And I ate _tteokbokki_ , thank you very much.”

“Same crap,” Seungmin rolls his eyes. “Did you even start on homework?”

Jisung gives an affronted gasp. “Of course not! I never start homework unless you’re here with me.”

Seungmin raises his brows. That’s an outright lie if he could smell one.

“Okay, okay, I got to the first problem and couldn’t figure it out. Calculatus is hard, man. And stop it with the eyes, you remind me of my mom.”

“You mean Calculus?”

“Same shit.”

Seungmin rolls his eyes before straightening his face. “Anyway, Mom’s making beef & radish soup for dinner. You wanna come over?”

“Beef?” There are literal sparkles in Jisung’s eyes. Seungmin laughs.

“Yeah, she said you’re welcome to come over. But I’m going to shower first because she’s not finished yet.”

“I already ate some dinner, but I’m always down for beef,” Jisung admits, mouth slightly salivating.

“Okay. Well, I’ll signal you when to come over.”

“Alright, best friend. See you in a bit!”

They both go towards their respective rooms, with a spring in their steps. Seungmin showers slowly, scrubbing away at the dirt that must have surely accumulated on his skin from baseball practice. Sure enough, he sees the literal grime that’s going down the drain in a swirl.

Seungmin shivers when he gets out, hair smelling faintly of citrus and soap. He towels quickly, tummy growling from lack of food. Slipping on a plain white shirt and gray sweatpants, Seungmin puts on his slippers and knocks on his bedroom wall three times before bounding out of his room.

When he gets to the dining room, dinner is already set up. There’s a beef & radish soup in the middle, along with the regular side dishes of rice, _kimchi_ , seaweed, _sigeumchi namul_ , and pickled garlic stems.

“Can I heat up some fish cakes?” Seungmin likes fish cakes. Loves them. Would eat them every day if need be.

“Of course, dear. Is Jisung coming?”

And as if the boy heard his name, there comes a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it,” Seungmin says eagerly. “That’s probably him.”

Without a doubt, when Seungmin opens the doors, in comes a bouncy Jisung ready to devour some beef. He shuffles inside quickly, slippered feet dragging across the carpet.

“Thank you for having me for dinner, Mrs. Kim,” Jisung says politely with a bow. “I will eat well.”

“Such a polite boy,” his mom giggles. “You should be more like him, Seungmin.”

Seungmin huffs. Jisung is anything but polite. He’s just really good at fooling parents. When Seungmin takes a seat next to the shorter boy, Jisung gives him a smirk and wink. The nerve. First of all, Seungmin invites him to his house-

They start eating, Seungmin’s dad usually not getting home until well into the night. His mom asks them the usual things, like what they learned today, and if the lessons were helpful, and how baseball is going.

Seungmin answers the questions with relative ease. Dinner goes smoothly, and both Seungmin and Jisung do the dishes.

“So, wanna come over so we can do the homework together?” Seungmin asks as he scrubs the last of the plates.

“Thought you’d never ask.”

The two spend the next two hours slugging it out with Calculus and Korean History, their homework taking a big load out of their energy supply. They’re now lying down on Seungmin’s bed, staring at the ceiling and the Day6 poster that’s yellowing at the edges.

“What do you think university life will be like?” Jisung asks, and Seungmin can tell by the tone of his voice that he’s being serious.

“I don’t know,” Seungmin shrugs because he doesn’t. They’re on their last year of high school, and he’s still not quite sure what he’s supposed to be doing with his life. “But I hope that we’ll still be best friends even if we’re train rides apart.”

Jisung snorts. “Of course, we will.”

And then, as if the moment was too serious, Jisung changes his tone. “Bet you fifty thousand won that I’ll get into the same college as you.”

Seungmin giggles before shaking on it. “I need the money. Thanks, Ji.”

Jisung leaves late at night, homework not quite finished, but mostly done. Seungmin lectures him about not finishing, to which the blonde only replies with _it’s fine, Seungmin. I’m not trying to ace everything like you._

When Seungmin is finally alone, he takes a deep breath and pulls out the heart-shaped note from his folder. He reads it once more. And just like last time, it makes his tummy feel funny. _Things I adore about Kim Seungmin._

Seungmin hopes someone truly is out there who adores him, and that this isn’t just some big celestial prank on him. Otherwise, he’ll be truly gutted at fate for being so cruel.

 _Day 1_ , it says. Is it possible that there’ll be more of these notes coming his way? He sure hopes so. Though the butterflies in his stomach stay awake, Seungmin falls asleep looking forward to tomorrow.


	2. His Genuine Kindness~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungmin receives another note, chicken nuggets, and spends his time attending hagwon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I come bearing an update! 
> 
> Comments and kudos are very much appreciated! If you like this story, please give it a thumbs up! If you have comments, please don't hesitate to post in the comment section! I really want to know what you all think about this story! :D

It’s 7:25 am.

Seungmin currently has private vocal lessons as he always does in the morning. It stretches from 7:20 to 7:50, all five weekdays before school. It gives him just enough time to get to his classes once his coach tells him it’s okay to go. Today though, he wants nothing more than to finish this session and hurry to his homeroom. While he’s usually focused on the task at hand, the only thing that’s on his mind is the love letter stuffed inside his folder. He carries it like a good luck charm.

“One more time,” Coach Choi says. Seungmin doesn’t sigh, but he almost does. He repeats the humming exercise once more. It’s one of the more useful warm-ups, stretching his vocal cords, not unlike the way a jogger would stretch their legs before a run. He does as he’s told, keeping his lips loose and relaxed rather than pressing them together.

The lesson goes by in a blur. Seungmin doesn’t think he retained much from today’s session, and he feels pretty ashamed at the fact that he probably just wasted both his and Coach Choi’s time. When the clock hits 7:50, his vocal instructor releases him, but not without a word.

“You’re not usually like this, Seungmin-ssi,” Coach Choi states matter-of-factly, and it makes Seungmin feel even worse. “I expect better tomorrow.”

Seungmin bows, his cheeks heating up before taking his exit. That was embarrassing. He speedwalks to his classroom, and upon seeing another note on his desk, his mood jumps up. The paper is yellow this time, but the cut is still the same.

He turns to Jisung once more, but the shorter boy currently has his head in his arms, most probably napping before class starts. Seungmin takes a seat on his desk, getting comfortable before reading the note. Like last time, it has the romanization of his name printed on the front.

 _Day 2: Kim Seungmin <3 _  
_Roses are red, daffodils are yellow,_  
_Your never-ending kindness makes my beating heart mellow!_

Seungmin feels giddy from it all. Seeing as he has now received two love letters, this means that either someone really is out there crushing on him, or there’s a person who’s going out of their way to pull off a very nasty, very cruel prank. It seems more likely the former though since he doesn’t think he’s made any enemies during his high school life. He reads the note once more before turning it over.

_Things I adore about Kim Seungmin: (2) his genuine kindness~_

Seungmin has to bite his lips, lest he lets out a high pitched squeak. He can’t believe this is actually happening. He wonders who it is. His admirer is most likely one of the students in this class. Turning back, Seungmin sees that Hyunjin is already looking at him. The older boy gives him a blinding smile and wave, which makes Seungmin chuckles. He returns the greeting before moving on. Seungmin takes a mental note of who is currently present. Realizing that’s it’s difficult to keep track of the people here, Seungmin decides he’d do the opposite by eliminating the students who enter after him.

Though a question still lingers in his head. Who does he want it to be? He doesn’t know the answer to that quite yet.

Before Mr. Tuan arrives, Seungmin crosses off Jihee, Gunho, and Jiyeon. That’s fine though, he doesn’t really know them that well anyway. As soon as class begins, Mr. Tuan does his usual morning greeting.

“Good morning, class! And welcome. I hope you are all doing well today, and I hope this lecture does nothing to change that.”

Seungmin reaches over and gently shakes Jisung. The blonde stirs awake, eyes slowly blinking to adjust to the light.

“Best friend?” He whispers, rubbing his eyes with his fist. It’s incredibly adorable.

“Class is about to start,” Seungmin says covertly. Jisung huffs.

“You woke me up for something so trivial?” Jisung frowns, lips jutting out and looking shiny, hands already patting his desk to find the comfiest spot to lay his head on. “I can’t believe you, best friend.”

“I have something else,” Seungmin snickers before showing him the second note. He’s about to say more when he’s interrupted.

“Mr. Kim, is there something you’d like to share with us?” Mr. Tuan’s voice is calm and collected, but Seungmin knows he absolutely hates instances that disrupt his classes. All of the students in the rows in front of him turn around. He can also feel the creepy stares from the back of his head as well. They all look at him in curiosity, and he feels slightly embarrassed from all of the attention.

Seungmin, hand in midair holding a yellow heart-shaped note, shakes his head. “No, sir.”

He places the note back on his desk, praying to Thor that Mr. Tuan won’t ask him to read the note aloud. His eyes catch Felix’s, and the latter simply gives him a close-lipped smile. Mr. Tuan glances at the note.

“Good. Then please keep it down.” Seungmin silently thanks Mr. Tuan for not making him read the note aloud. He probably would have shat his pants.

Seungmin turns to Jisung once more, only to find that Jisung has already snatched the note and reading it to himself. Seungmin rolls his eyes before displaying his hand out. With a put upon huff, Jisung gently sets the yellow paper onto Seungmin’s hand.

“Let’s talk more about this later today,” Jisung whispers. Seungmin nods.

They talk more about integrals today, and it’s so boring that Seungmin almost falls asleep as well. The day passes by with an hour for Calculus, an hour of Korean Language, Physical Education, and Fine Arts before the bell signals their lunch break.

As soon as it does, Jisung is standing up and trying to haul Seungmin out of his seat by the hand.

“Jisung, what the heck?” Seungmin asks, but then a whole bunch of the other students is also leaving quickly for the cafeteria. The shorter boy notices this too.

Jisung has a manic look on his face, turning back to Seungmin and lets go of his hand. “Sorry, best friend. I’m gonna have to leave you!”

Seungmin watches as Jisung pushes his way through the crowd with his bony elbow, and he can’t help but think that his friend is so weird. He’s standing up and dusting his uniform when he hears a familiar voice call his name.

“Seungmin! Want to go get lunch together?” Felix is smiling his pretty smile. He’s a very pretty boy with a very pretty face.

“Sure,” Seungmin replies, hand carding through his red hair. Felix’s eyes flicker up at the action. The shorter boy immediately links his arms with Seungmin as they make their way towards the lunch room.

“You’re going to _hagwon_ today, right?” Felix asks, soft eyes looking at Seungmin’s.

“Of course, I am.” The taller boy smiles.

“Thank god. 4 hours listening to the instructor babble can be extremely boring without a friend around.”

Seungmin does a slight double take. Are they friends? Upon a second look, he supposes that yes, they are friends. They text memes to each other for god’s sake. Hmm, maybe Seungmin has more friends than he realizes.

When they get to the cafeteria, Seungmin is surprised how long the line is.

“What the heck?”

The line reaches up all the way to the entrance, and both Seungmin and Felix grab a tray, a spoon, and a pair of chopsticks each before they get in the queue.

“Do you know what they’re having today?” Seungmin asks.

“I’m pretty sure it’s Chicken Nuggets Day,” Felix explains, hand caressing his tummy. That makes total sense. That’s probably why Jisung left him earlier. God knows the only thing Jisung loves more than chicken nuggets are fried chicken.

“Man, I hope there’ll still be some left for us,” Seungmin grumbles. The chances of that happening are very little, seeing as they were one of the last ones to leave their classroom.

Felix is in front of Seungmin in line, and the older boy gets his food first. Seungmin’s mouth is basically salivating at the thought of having chicken nuggets in his mouth. He displays his tray out and receives a small bowl of _jjajangmyeon,_ rice, _kimchi,_ seasoned veggies, and… no chicken nuggets?

“Excuse me, Yeona-ssi,” Seungmin says, trying to get the attention of the lunch lady. “Are there any more chicken nuggets?”

“I’m sorry, but the person before you just got the last few pieces,” she explains, eyebrows furrowing. Seungmin’s vision immediately zooms in on Felix’s plate, and sure enough, sitting pristinely on the side are five pieces of chicken nuggets next to a dollop of honey mustard sauce. “Would you like some extra _kimchi_ instead?”

Seungmin turns back to her and nods sadly. He suddenly feels like a puppy wet with rain. Maybe he can steal a piece or two from Jisung.

“You sitting with us today?” Seungmin questions Felix.

“If you don’t mind,” he smiles.

“Of course not.” Seungmin searches for Jisung, and it doesn’t take long to find his blonde hair sticking out like a sore thumb. When they approach the table, it’s to find that Jisung has already stuffed his cheeks full with chicken nuggets. And Seungmin cries a little inside.

Felix and Jisung exchange greetings as Seungmin and Felix take their seat.

“Ey wan ow o nuh kez aw eddy?” Jisung asks, cheeks bulging even more? Which, how is that even possible? Seungmin rolls his eyes at his best friend’s antics.

“Yeah, they ran out of nuggets already,” Seungmin explains gloomily. Count on Seungmin to have the worst luck. “It’s okay though. I wasn’t really looking forward… to it… anyway…”

“You can have mine if you want,” Felix pipes up from beside him. An angel. On Earth. Seungmin is positive that he has sparkles in his eyes right now.

“A-Are you sure?” Seungmin bites his tongue. There’s a pause as if Felix is contemplating, but before Seungmin can feel bad, Felix speaks up again.

“Yeah, totally. I don’t mind. Just trade me some _kimchi_ instead.” A blessed boy. Who says heroes don’t exist? Felix uses his chopsticks to transfer the nuggets to Seungmin’s tray, while Seungmin places his extra _kimchi_ on Felix’s tray.

“Oh ehm gee, I could kiss you right now,” Seungmin says offhandedly. He doesn’t realize what he said until Jisung chokes and Felix coughs. “I mean like a thank you kiss… or like, any expression of gratitude. I-It doesn’t have to be a kiss. I just mean-”

Seungmin sighs, neck feeling hot. “I’ll just… shut up now.”

Felix nods. Jisung is snickering on the other side. And to stop himself from talking and further humiliating himself, Seungmin begins to munch on his nuggets. The soft texture inside perfectly balances the crunchy fried batter outside. It’s truly like having an orgasm in one’s mouth. Felix is eyeing the nuggets, and Seungmin wonders if the boy really didn’t mind giving him nuggets.

“Want some?” Seungmin asks shyly, holding out a chicken nugget in front of Felix. The older boy just stares at Seungmin, a little confused before leaning over and biting the nugget from Seungmin’s chopsticks. Seungmin can feel Felix’s eyes boring into him as pulls the chicken with a pop. It’s a little mesmerizing and a little hot and Seungmin’s brain is going haywire for some reason. The younger boy doesn’t know what’s happening, and thankfully he doesn’t have to say anything because Jisung is interrupting.

“Hey, hey, hey, none of that on the lunch table.”

And as if caught red-handed with their fingers in the cookie jar, both Seungmin and Felix look down at their laps in shame. They eat in relative silence before Jisung gets some black bean sauce in his eyes, and they laugh until their sides hurt.

The end of the day finishes with Jisung hurrying out of class as usual. It’s as if he’s allergic to school or something.

“Minnie!” Seungmin turns around to see Hyunjin smiling at him. Seungmin can almost see the little petals that float around his head.

“Hyunjin, hey! What’s up?”

“Oh nothing,” Hyunjin replies dazedly. “Just wanted to tell you to have fun at _hagwon_ today! Don’t work yourself too hard.”

Seungmin chuckles. “Thanks. I’ll try not to.”

And then Felix is calling his name.

“Listen, I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow okay, Hyunjin?”

“See you tomorrow, Minnie!” Hyunjin waves goodbye excitedly.

Seungmin and Felix take bus 0325 to _hagwon_ classes. This bus is always full because it takes the main road that has stops near the supermarket, some restaurants, and an elementary school. So it’s no surprise that, after a couple of stops, the bus is relatively full. Unfortunately for the very elderly couple who comes in, the bus has no more available seats left.

When they start walking on the aisle of the bus, Seungmin immediately stands up and takes Felix by the sleeve, much to the older boy’s confusion.

“Seungmin, what the-?” The younger boy simply points at the elderly couple looking for someplace to sit.

“ _Halmoni, haraboji_ ,” Seungmin bows politely as the elderly couple make their way to Seungmin. “You are welcome to take our seats.”

“ _Haksaeng_ ,” the old man calls Seungmin, smiling as he helps his wife onto the seat. Their gray hairs are thinning out, hands shaking a little as holds on to the rails before sitting down next to his wife. “Thank you for letting us sit.”

“It’s no problem, _haraboji_.” Seungmin bows once more before turning to Felix. The older boy is looking at Seungmin with admiration and dazed smile.

“You’re so unbelievably nice, Seungmin,” Felix says airily. And Seungmin feels like a bucket of ice water was just poured onto his back. What did he just say?

“A-Are you saying I’m genuinely kind?” Seungmin asks, biting his lips. Is it Felix? Did Felix write down that second note?

“No doubt about it, mate,” he says, orange hair bouncing prettily with the motion of the bus. “You’re probably the nicest guy I know.”

“Thank you. You’re pretty nice yourself, giving me your chicken nuggets and all.” Seungmin tries to sound normal, but there’s still a ringing noise in his ears that refuses to leave.

When they get out of the bus, Felix instantly hooks his arms into Seungmin’s.

“What do you think we’ll learn in Physics today?” Seungmin asks, almost skipping.

“Probably dumb shit,” Felix answers honestly. “I don’t really know why my parents make me go to these. The instructors barely help. I feel like you’re probably a better teacher, to be honest.”

Seungmin rubs the back of his neck with his free hand. “That’s not true.” Though Felix does have a point. Seungmin has helped him more with the grammar rules of hangul than the hangul instructor here.

When they enter the correct room, Felix immediately pulls Seungmin by the forearm with both hands. “Let’s sit in the back today!”

The clock strikes 5:00 pm, and Mr. Yoo enters looking miserable.

“Good afternoon,” he greets, but from the sound of it, his afternoon has not been good at all. “Today we’re going to talk about the Laws of Momentum.”

Felix and Seungmin groan. They’ve talked about this already in their Physics class. Seungmin listens for the first few minutes anyway until he feels his phone buzzing in his pocket. He takes it out only to see that it’s a text from Felix, which, what the fuck? They’re sitting right next to each other.

He looks over at Felix, and the older boy is pointing at his phone and mouthing _open it_.

Seungmin does, and he has to bite his lip and cover his mouth to refrain from laughing. It’s the video of a guy taking a dart to the forehead like it’s nothing. He’s watched this so many times last year that he knows the dialogue by now, but it still never fails to crack him up.

 _Seungmin:_ _  
_ _Do you want to play a game?_

 _Felix:_  
_wtf? u sound like jigsaw hahaha_  
_but okay im all ears_

_Seungmin:  
Let’s send each other funniest videos. And whoever Mr. Yoo catches loses. _

_Felix:_ _  
_ _ur on. get ready to have ur ass pounded_

Seungmin almost laughs because what??? He doesn’t even know what to respond with.

 _Felix:_  
_handed*_ _  
_ _auto-correct… :)_

The next couple of hours passes by with Felix and Seungmin sending each other funny videos and snickering as softly as they can in the back without Mr. Yoo noticing. However, Felix loses when Seungmin sends the video of a woman who is ‘confusion,’ aggressively asking America to explain why one state is Kansas and the other one is _Arr-khan-saw?!?!_

Felix’s guffaws are so loud that the everyone in the room turns to him in both shock and irritation.

“Mr. Lee, phones away while I’m teaching please,” Mr. Yoo tries to sound commanding, but he really just sounds exhausted. Felix bows and immediately sinks into his chair apologizing for his behavior.

 _Seungmin:_ _  
_ _Guess I win. c:_

 _Felix:_ _  
_ _shut up hoe. we’ll see who wins on thursday >:C _

When _hagwon_ finishes, the sun is down and the evening air is already cold. The roads are buzzing with energy still, but foot traffic is slowly dying down.

“Okay, see you tomorrow, Seungmin,” Felix says with that low voice of his, walking backwards with hands behind his back. He’s walking so slowly that Seungmin wonders if he’s even trying to leave.

“Bye, Felix! See you tomorrow.” Seungmin gives him a big smile and a quick wave, and the older boy turns around. There’s a faint blush on Felix’s nape, but Seungmin concludes that it’s just the lousy street lamps playing tricks on him.

Seungmin takes the bus to get home. Once there, he immediately goes to his room and knocks on his bedroom wall three times before entering the balcony of their apartment. After several seconds of waiting, Jisung comes out with his hair looking adorably disheveled as if he was just taking a nap. Seungmin sort of wants to pinch his cheeks.

“What did you do today?”

Jisung yawns as he stretches his arms out and arches his back gracefully. “Nothing much really. Games. Food. Nap. What about you?”

Seungmin shrugs. “Felix and I learned more about Physics today. It all just kind of entered one ear and exited the other since the instructor was talking about stuff we already learned in Mr. Chung’s class, so we just fucked around in the back of the class.”

“Boooring,” Jisung says. “Let’s talk about your love letter!”

“W-What about it?” Seungmin suddenly feels self-conscious.

“Well, do you know who it’s from yet?” Jisung asks, and there’s a mischievous glint in his eyes that’s gone as soon as it came. Horns are honking from floors below, and from up here, Seungmin can see the heavy traffic on the main street below.

“I don’t know,” Seungmin shrugs. He really wants to know though, not only to figure out who is sending these but also to thank them for lighting up Seungmin’s day. “I know it’s not Jiyeon, Jihee, or Gunho though. They entered class later than I did today.”

Jisung hums. “Can I come over again and do homework?”

“You mean come over and copy my answers?”

“Same shit,” Jisung replies as Seungmin snickers and rolls his eyes. “Can I, can I, can I? Please, best friend.”

“Come on then,” Seungmin gives up. Jisung jumps up and cheers before hurrying back to his room, presumably to grab his stuff and knock on the Kim Family’s apartment.

Jisung eats some dinner with them again, because he’s a growing boy with a black hole for a stomach. They begin their night with Korean Language homework before moving on to Physics.

“I still have no idea what the difference is between force and momentum,” Jisung sighs exasperatedly. “I’m probably never going to use this in my short life.”

“Your short life?”

“Yes, best friend,” Jisung huffs, shaking his head and talking to Seungmin like the younger boy is a three-year-old child. “I’m here for a good time, B, not a long time.”

They continue their homework until Seungmin’s voice gets tired and Jisung’s eyes get sleepy. The night ends with Jisung tackling him to the bed thanking him profusely by shoving his face on the smooth skin between Seungmin’s ear and shoulder and giving it a soft bite.

Seungmin shrieks because- “Ack. It tickles, Ji! Stop-”

Seungmin continues laughing because he can’t stop, not when Jisung is also using his hands to tickle Seungmin’s waist. They’re both out of breath by the end of whatever that was. Jisung cleans up after himself and swings his backpack onto his shoulders.

“Thank you for always helping me with my homework, best friend,” Jisung says sincerely. “I don’t think I’d ever finish anything without your help.”

“Jeez, Ji. What would you do without me?” Seungmin laughs lightly.

He means it as a rhetorical question, but Jisung answers with an earnest expression and a serious tone. “I honestly don’t know, Seungmin.”

Seungmin is about to ask what he meant, but Jisung is making his way out the bedroom door with a seemingly forced smile and a hand wave. “Good night, best friend!”

And then he’s gone. Seungmin steadies his breathing, hoping for sleep to come. It doesn’t. All he keeps thinking about are today’s events. Felix’s comment about him being ‘unbelievably kind,’ and Jisung apparently not knowing what to do without Seungmin. He even thinks about Hyunjin telling him to ‘have fun’ at _hagwon_ and to not work too hard.

The fact that he has three very lovely friends make him giddy. For some weird reason, these thoughts force him to take out the notes again: Day 1 blue, Day 2 yellow. He wonders if any of the three could be his secret admirer, but quickly dismisses the thought. No way. Hyunjin is too handsome, Felix too pretty, and Jisung simply too good for him. Before he spirals down into a party of self-pity, Seungmin reads the notes once more.

 _Things I adore about Kim Seungmin:_  
_his cherry-red hair~_  
_his genuine kindness~_

The cards put a smile on his face. Seungmin wonders what other characteristics he possesses that his admirer apparently adores. He finds that he can’t wait for tomorrow to come and falls asleep to the thought of roses, forget-me-nots, daffodils, and three good boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're liking it so far!
> 
> Comments and kudos are very much appreciated! If you like this story, please give it a thumbs up! If you have comments, please don't hesitate to post in the comment section! I really want to know what you all think about this story! :D
> 
> Follow me on tumblr! [@seungjjn](https://seungjjn.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> Btw, just because my tumblr url is _seungjjn_ doesn't automatically mean that this will end in Seungjin :)


	3. His Perfect Pearly Whites~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungmin receives another note. And another one. Tension, tension, tension and lots of general confusion.

Seungmin really dislikes Wednesdays. Dislike is a relatively strong word, but Seungmin cannot think of a single thing to like about the midweek other than the fact that it isn’t Monday.

The most annoying thing about Wednesday is that it’s equally close to the weekend as it is far from it. If Seungmin could describe Wednesday in words, he would say that it’s that type of itch that doesn’t stop being itchy regardless of how many times he scratches it. He supposes it’s because Wednesday shows the first signs of the weekend, yet it is so excruciatingly far that it feels like Seungmin is simply in the middle of the shithole week. It’s the type of day that calls for three shots of espresso seeing as school and responsibilities are at a weekly high and the fun is at its weekly low.

He supposes one good thing to come out of it is the daily notes that he’s been receiving this whole week!

When he gets to his seat after vocal practice, it’s to find a white heart sitting primly on his desk. He can’t help but smile and feel his stomach making flips at the sight of it. He looks around before sitting down excitedly to read the note.

_ Day 3: Kim Seungmin <3 _   
_ Roses are red, dandelions are white, _ _   
_ _ Your brilliant smile sparks my whole world alight! _

Seungmin feels his heart beat faster before he takes a deep breath. He feels very light as if gravity forgot to work today and all the responsibilities and work connected to Wednesday have suddenly unburdened his shoulders. He turns the white paper heart around.

_ Things I adore about Kim Seungmin: (3) his perfect pearly whites~ _

Seungmin doesn’t realize that he’s still smiling, so he quickly bites his lips before looking around to investigate once again who could possibly be giving him these notes.

As usual, nobody screams obvious during his quick little look around. Like before, Jisung gives him a tired grin, eyes disappearing from the action so much that Seungmin almost pets him. Felix gives him the prettiest smile. Hyunjin waves excitedly at him in morning greeting. There is, however, a new piece of information that he hasn’t registered the last couple of times. Eunbi, one of the prettiest girls in class with really good grades (like honestly, how is that even fair?), is making eye contact with him before smiling shyly at his direction. It all makes Seungmin’s mouth go dry. Seungmin gulps, perhaps finally finding the person who has been giving him these messages.

Seungmin’s mind travels to the potential of it all. Does Eunbi like him? He doesn’t remember ever having a conversation with Eunbi, though he supposes the notes express affection towards his outward appearance and his apparent kindness, which can be easily observed from afar.

If it does turn out to be Eunbi, what would people say? Would they be boyfriends and girlfriends that quickly? Surely not. They should go on dates and stuff and get to know each other. Unless? No, that’s not right. He doesn’t really know Eunbi that well.

Oh my god, what would his friends say? Would they even approve? He could already see Jisung saying he’s way too good for her, or Felix saying she won’t get his humor the way his friends do, or Hyunjin saying they don’t fit at all. Seungmin sighs. Why is he even thinking about his friends right now? He doesn’t know, but before he falls into a state of overthinking, Mr. Tuan enters the room with his usual mixture of grace and swagger.

He starts the day with his usual morning greeting, “Good morning, class and welcome! I hope you are all doing well, and I hope this lecture does nothing to change that.”

Seungmin begins on autopilot, copying whatever Mr. Tuan writes on the screen. He writes and thinks and reads and thinks and jots stuff down and thinks even more. He doesn’t think much time has passed, but the lunch bell must have rung because everyone is getting up to go eat.

“Best friend, are you okay?” Jisung asks him, squatting in front of his desk so that they’re face-to-face. This close, Seungmin can see the genuine concern in the shorter boy’s eyes.

“I’m good, Ji,” Seungmin reassures him. “You can go on ahead to lunch first, I’ll follow after.”

Jisung is about to go but thinks better of it. “Are you sure you’re okay? You seemed to be out of it today. I think even I paid more attention than you did, and I don’t pay attention at all.”

Seungmin smiles, always grateful for his best friend’s jokes. “I’m good, honestly. I just have to figure something out first before lunch.”

Jisung ruffles Seungmin’s red hair, giving him a cute smile before walking away. “Okay. I’ll save you a seat.”

Seungmin nods. Almost as soon as Jisung is out the door, someone calls to him.

“Seungmin,” a soft voice says. He half expects it to be Hyunjin, but the sight that beholds him has him awestruck. It’s Eunbi, her hands folded in front of her looking as serene as she usually does. “I was wondering if we could talk before you go to lunch?”

Seungmin’s brain short-circuits. Thankfully, a friend is out there to save him.

“Seungminnie!” Hyunjin calls out as he makes his way over, eyes bright and big as usual. “Let's eat lunch together today~”

The younger boy looks between Hyunjin and Eunbi, the latter staring quite dazedly at the former. She dusts off her skirt, regardless of the fact that it looks perfectly clean and pressed. Seungmin rubs the back of his neck. “Uh, actually, I was going to have a quick conversation with Eunbi right now… Perhaps sit with me and Jisung later at the cafeteria?”

Hyunjin gives Eunbi a quick glance before turning back to Seungmin with a forced smile. “Yeah, of course.”

Hyunjin bows to Eunbi before scurrying away. However, as soon as he disappears through the door, he takes a peek back inside and says, “Don’t take too long, okay?”

Seungmin doesn’t get to respond because Hyunjin leaves right after. Five words shouldn’t make his mouth dry, but alas. 

Eunbi clears her throat as Seungmin stands up. They walk outside to the hallway before Eunbi begins speaking. Seungmin wonders how this will all end up. Will they be kissing in public? Right here in the hall? No, that seems too inappropriate. Perhaps a walk near the Han River later this afternoon? There’s a nice place by the dock that has a good view of the sunset.

“Did you wanna-” Seungmin starts nervously before rephrasing. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Well, I couldn’t help but notice that you-” she gulps, pulling out a folded piece of paper from her pockets. “You’re close to Hyunjin, are you not?”

Seungmin backtracks. What does Hyunjin have to-

_ Oh. _

“Uh, I- yeah I suppose so,” Seungmin answers, eyes not leaving the piece of paper in her hands. Silly Seungmin, head always in the clouds. “Did you want me to deliver that to him?”

She looks unbelievably relieved with his words, almost as if she didn’t want to say it and was thankful for Seungmin for bringing it up.

“Y-Yes, I would appreciate it very much,” she replies, eyes almost sparkling. “Is it- is that okay?”

“I mean, yeah,” Seungmin says halfheartedly. He tries to keep the smile on his face as he takes the note from her hands. “Why wouldn’t it?”

“I just thought, maybe… Ah, never mind what I said. Thank you so much again!”

“Don’t mention it,” Seungmin says softly. Honestly, please do not mention it. Seungmin points behind him with his thumb. “I’ll just- I’ll go give this to him now.”

“Oh, thank you thank you thank you,” she squeals before giving him a hug that catches him by surprise.

Seungmin watches her walk away waving. He keeps his eyes on her for a few more seconds just as someone tickles Seungmin from behind. He lets out an unmanly gasp before pulling away at the first chance he could. One look behind shows him that the perpetrator is none other than his  _ hagwon _ buddy, Lee Felix.

“Yongbok,” Seungmin puts his hands up in surrender. “Stop or you’ll regret it.”

“ _ Yah _ , don’t call me that!” the older boy pipes up before crossing his arms.

“Then don’t tickle me from behind!”

“Okay,” Felix says before sidling up close to Seungmin and wagging his eyebrows, which look a little too forced. “So, you and Eunbi, eh?”

“Actually no,” Seungmin sighs before bringing up the little note she gave him. “She only wanted to talk to me to see if I can give this to Hyunjin.”

The other boy gasps. “No way. Really?”

“Yeah, really,” Seungmin says, and he’s about to say more before Felix interjects.

“Well then, she’s missing out because not only are you the most attractive single boy in our class, you’re also a really good person,” Felix replies, sounding extremely offended on Seungmin’s behalf. “You are single, right?”

The question catches Seungmin off-guard, but he nods nonetheless. “Single as a Pringle.”

Seungmin smiles but tries to hide it with a snort. He doesn’t know if he succeeded, but he doesn’t get a chance to think about it because Felix is grabbing his hand. Seungmin’s heart skips a bit and lets himself be pulled.

“Come on, Seungminnie. Let’s forget about her and eat lunch together.”

“O-Okay,” Seungmin answers with bated breath.

The thing about hand holding is that it’s so casual yet simultaneously intimate. It isn’t always romantic, and sometimes it isn’t even meaningful, but it’s pleasing nonetheless. Like right now, Seungmin can feel the warmth emanating from Felix’s hand. Small as they may be, Seungmin could get used to the safety and reassurance that he receives from such a simple, yet powerful act.

He doesn’t realize they’re still holding hands until they had to let go to pick up lunch trays and utensils, doing so with a small frown that Felix needs not see. They have fruits for lunch today, complete with  _ bokumbap _ , egg drop soup, sliced watermelon, and spicy salad made from cucumbers, onions, and apples.

“Lunch looks healthier today, don’t you think?” Felix pipes up from next to him.

“Yeah, it does,” Seungmin says, mood a slight mixture of up and down from what had transpired in the last five mins.

They sit next to Jisung and Hyunjin, who both look surprisingly (or unsurprisingly?)  awkward in front of each other. Seungmin could guess that their personalities probably doesn’t mesh well in the best way, but he didn’t think it would be to this extent. Seungmin sighs.

“Hey, Felix!” Jisung greets, and Felix greets him back just as happily.

As soon as he sets his lunch tray down, Seungmin looks at Hyunjin and says, “Hey, Hyunjin, can I talk to you?”

Hyunjin blinks up at him from where he’s sitting. He points at himself, looking adorably confused at the situation. “M-Me?”

Seungmin nods and gives him a smile that feels forced even to himself.

Hyunjin gets up and pats off the crumbs on his pants. Seungmin pulls him towards the door by the wrist, and he can feel people’s eyes on him, including Hyunjin’s, Felix’s, and even Jisung’s. When they get to the lockers outside of the cafeteria, Seungmin turns around to face Hyunjin.

“What did you want to talk about?” Hyunjin says, hands coming up behind his neck.

Seungmin lets go of Hyunjin’s wrist and pulls out the note from his pocket. Hyunjin’s eyes bulge as soon as they settle on the letter in Seungmin’s hands.

“S-Seungminnie?” Hyunjin is breathing hard and looks a little red on the ears.

Seungmin looks between the note and Hyunjin and realizes that this probably is very suspicious looking, Seungmin holding a note in front of a very kind, very attractive boy. So of course Seungmin kind of goes into panic mode.

“I-I-I, no, it’s not what it looks like!!!” Seungmin begins with hands in front of him. “I’m not? This isn’t… Uhm. You know the girl I was talking to? Eu-Eunbi?”

Hyunjin nods slowly, eyes becoming less big.

“She wanted me to- she said she would appreciate it if I delivered this to you,” Seungmin bows and pushes the note towards Hyunjin with both hands. He can feel his fingers brushing Hyunjin’s torso as he does it.

Hyunjin takes his time pulling the note from Seungmin’s hands, and Seungmin looks up to see Hyunjin pocketing the note and looking at him with something Seungmin can’t really explain.

“Don’t you want to read it?” Seungmin asks.

“I’ll read it later,” Hyunjin replies, smiling at Seungmin toothily. “Right now let’s just enjoy lunch.”

And then Hyunjin pulls him along by the wrist this time, and Seungmin can feel his skin tingling from where he and Hyunjin are touching.

They go back to the lunch table where Felix and Jisung are already laughing at some joke that Seungmin knows he too would have found funny. And there’s this little feeling or friend jealousy that makes his skin go prickly before the strange emotion quickly flies away.

“What are you guys talking about?” Seungmin says as he sits down, Hyunjin taking the seat right next to him so that Seungmin is between him and Jisung.

“Nothing,” Felix and Jisung say in unison, before making eye contact and laughing again.

Seungmin snorts and glances at Hyunjin, who looks to be really out of his element right now.

“Don’t mind them,” Seungmin says as he begins to eat his food. “By the way, do you know what we’ll be practicing today?”

Hyunjin grins. “I’m pretty sure we’ll just be running drills.”

Seungmin nods and they all eat in relative comfort, other than the weird tension that Seungmin can visibly detect between Hyunjin and Jisung.

When the bell rings to signal the end of the lunch hour, the four of them get up to clean their trays and place it in the correct bin.

They walk in awkward silence until Felix asks a question from the side. “Did you guys finish Physics homework?”

“Of course not,” Jisung answers the same time Hyunjin says, “Of course, I did.”

Seungmin feels like he’s in the middle of a crossfire, so he simply turns to Jisung and acts as if there’s nothing too big going on.

“What do you mean you didn’t finish it? We worked on it last night,” Seungmin questions, frowning.

“I finished most of it, but I didn’t want to make it suspicious. When have I ever finished Physics homework?”

“Good point.” That’s actually really smart of him, Seungmin thinks. He doesn’t give his best friend enough credit.

Seungmin and Jisung take their respective seats next to each other when they enter their classroom again, waving bye to Felix who usually sits at the front and to Hyunjin who generally sits at the back.

As soon as they sit down, Jisung whispers, “I didn’t know you and that Hyunjin kid were close.”

“We’re baseball teammates, of course we’re friends,” Seungmin says, feeling as if he’s defending himself. From what, he doesn’t really know.

“Looks more than that, if you ask me,” Jisung scowls. Which, what? It ticks Seungmin off, and before he knows it, he’s retorting back.

“Well, what about you and Felix? You two weren’t that buddy-buddy yesterday.”

Jisung turns to look at Felix and then back at Seungmin. “W-What? Felix? We just got to know each other better when you and Hyunjin went off to do whatever you two did.”

Seungmin has the feeling that there’s something here that he’s missing, but he doesn’t comment on it and instead focuses on the Physics lecture that’s about to start.

When all of their classes end, Jisung quickly switches his indoor shoes with outdoor ones and is out the door without even a goodbye. Seungmin bites his lips, feeling like he did something wrong.

“Whoa, trouble in friendship paradise?” Felix comments lightly as he steps closer to Seungmin.

Seungmin turns to face Felix. “A little bit, I suppose?”

“What’s the matter?”

Seungmin tosses around the argument he and Jisung had had earlier. The only viable reason he could come up with is that Jisung is jealous of Seungmin getting close with Hyunjin, though he’s not certain if that jealousy is of a friendly nature or a… romantic one.

“I’m not sure,” Seungmin half lies. “I think we’ll need to talk about it though.”

Felix is quiet for a moment, as if trying to find the best way to phrase his next sentence correctly.

“I know you’ve already mentioned that you’re single, but you and Jisung don’t have feelings for each other… right?”

Seungmin looks at him for a few seconds before his mind registers Felix’s comment. “Oh. Oh, me and Jisung? Together? Haha, no, th-that’s- I never even thought of him like that.”

Right? He doesn’t think he’s thought of Jisung in the romantic sense. Or, has he? Seungmin doesn’t think so, or maybe refuses to think so, he doesn’t quite know.

“But you two are always together, and I swear I saw you two holding hands before and not the friendly kind.”

Seungmin shakes his head. The friendly kind? What even is the friendly kind of hand holding?

“My bad for assuming,” Felix apologizes before looking at him with intense seriousness and whispers ever so quietly. “But you aren’t straight, right?”

Seungmin keeps his mouth closed for a couple of seconds. Should he trust Felix? Upon looking at the boy's expression, Seungmin is instantly reminded of the little moments of friendship and support that they’ve shown each other in the last year. And he knows, then, that Felix is a friend that won’t leave him, despite the fact that Seungmin is different from the norm.

“No, I am not,” Seungmin says confidently, staring directly into Felix’s eyes. Felix smiles and gives him a cute wink. Seungmin’s heart skips a bit.

“Oh, me too! This is valuable information. Good to know,” Felix says before walking backward, with his hands behind his back. “Have fun at baseball practice today, Seungmin.”

And then Felix is making his way out the door.

What the hell is happening? It’s as if the celestial beings from above are making fun of him by giving him this whirlwind of nonsense that he cannot understand. It hasn’t even been a minute of thinking until someone is calling his name again. Has he always been this popular?

“Seungminnie~” Hyunjin says out from behind. “Are you ready to go to practice?”

“Just a minute,” he says as he switches his shoes, an action that he currently finds difficult to do for no apparent reason. Once he finishes, Hyunjin hooks his arm through Seungmin’s.

“Let’s walk to practice together,” Hyunjin says airily.

“We always do that, Hyunjin,” Seungmin replies, snickering. “Did you end up reading that note yet?”

Hyunjin stares directly in front of him as he answers. “Nope.”

“Why not?” If it was Seungmin, he would have opened it the first chance he got.

Hyunjin shrugs. “It’s not a priority.”

“And what are your priorities?” Seungmin is honestly intrigued at what Hyunjin prioritizes.

The taller boy hums in thought. “I suppose school. Baseball. And friends.”

Seungmin smiles. “Me too.”

They do end up doing drills for practice today, one of them being Seungmin’s favorite called  _ Catch, Tag, and Throw _ . They also do sprints to practice their running and some light bodybuilding that will for sure make Seungmin sore tomorrow if not tonight. Though that wasn’t even the hardest part of baseball practice.

The most challenging part, as usual, is changing in the locker rooms. It’s not as if he’s obviously not straight, but there’s always this irrational fear that everyone can tell that he’s bisexual. Which is why he tries to keep his eyes focused only on his locker, doubly aware of his own actions.

But when Hyunjin starts talking to him, shirtless and still sweating from practice, he can’t help but face his friend. Hyunjin has always been attractive, but under the dim lights of the boys’ locker room, he looks almost ethereal. His skin looks milky, and Seungmin’s mind starts wandering to places that they ought not go, like wondering if Hyunjin’s skin is as soft as it looks.

Seungmin coughs, hoping his brain would just stop. Their conversation travels to one of Seungmin’s ears and out the other. And after that moment, Seungmin becomes especially sensitive to the distance between him and Hyunjin. Like at the bus ride, their thighs are in contact with another. And even though there’s fabric in between, Seungmin can’t help but focus on the places where his body meets Hyunjin.

He breathes a deep sigh of relief when the bus halts at Hyunjin’s stop, and they both bid each other farewell with soft smiles. Seungmin doesn’t quite know what’s happening and hopes that his mind would calm down. 

When he gets to his apartment, he hesitates to knock on the wall. What is he going to say to Jisung? Would Jisung even go out to the balcony if Seungmin knocked on the wall between them, as they usually do almost every single day?

If his initial inspection was correct, how would Seungmin react to the possibility of his best, most valuable friend having feelings for him? Seungmin isn’t certain, but what he is certain of is that he would always want Jisung in his life.

Seungmin bites his lip. Only one way to find out. With one hand on his chest and the other fisted next to the wall, he knocks.

_ One. _

_ Two. _

_ Three. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it has... been... a while. LOL. I definitely plan on finishing this, as I already have the ending in mind. So please bear with me ;__; As to how to get to the ending... that's another story. Ha. I've only written down the basic structure in between, so some things might seem silly and not fitting, but I will try my best to tie everything up nicely! :DDD Thank you for waiting. Kudos and comments appreciated.


	4. His Adorable Open-Mouthed Laugh~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungsung talk it out. Seungmin receives another note, and he's able to narrow down the suspects. 
> 
> Also, apparently there's a party coming up?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I've been working on a Fic Fest, so I haven't been focusing on this project lately. But trust me! I'll definitely finish this before my quarter starts.
> 
> Anyway, a little warning for this chapter: It talks a little bit about erections, so please if you're uncomfortable reading about any of these characters having an erection, please do not continue. Or simply skip the part!
> 
> Once again, thank you for reading. Kudos and comments are very much appreciated.

Seungmin waits at the balcony.

Nights in Seoul are never quiet, but there’s a sort of calm that’s accompanied by the slight buzz of the people several stories below. It serves as white noise in which Seungmin finds a bit of peace as he waits for his best friend to get to the balcony.

When they were seven, Seungmin had gotten mad at Jisung for breaking his favorite toy puppy. He remembers crying after Jisung told him. He also remembers Jisung crying once Seungmin’s tears started flowing down his chubby cheeks. Seungmin didn’t understand then, but he understands now that the reason Jisung cried wasn’t that he felt bad for doing something objectively wrong, but because he realized _he_ was the reason for Seungmin’s tears. And what tugs at Seungmin’s heart now, that seven-year-old-Seungmin didn’t recognize was truly courageous for someone so young, was the fact that Jisung didn’t lie about breaking it. He told Seungmin the truth, despite the consequences he most likely knew he would receive. Seungmin wonders if seven-year-old-Seungmin would have done the same.

When they were eleven, people would make fun of Seungmin for his nasal tone. They would make ugly remarks, like making goat noises or calling him “Seungsheep.” Eleven-year-old-Seungmin would cry after school almost every day, and Jisung would always comfort him on the way back home. The only time Jisung got into a fight in middle school was when one of their classmates called Seungmin by that terrible nickname at least fifteen times during that day and bleated like a goat in front of a red-faced Seungmin at least thirty times. Of course Jisung, who was tiny then (and still tiny now), had gotten a beating, but that doesn’t change the fact that Jisung fought for him.

Which is why, after that terrible situation, Seungmin refused to let his bullies’ words get to him just so Jisung wouldn’t get into another fight.

Here they are now.

Now he’s waiting on their adjacent balcony, Seungmin and Jisung’s spot. It’s been at least five minutes of reminiscing, and Seungmin is getting cold. And though Seungmin knew he and Jisung would always come back together, he’s currently getting anxious because Jisung still hasn’t come out of his room. 

Seungmin sighs. There was a part of him today that was uncertain what the next steps would be if Jisung had romantic feelings for him. Maybe Jisung is thinking this too, and that’s why he hasn’t gone out to meet Seungmin.

A chilly breeze passes by, and Seungmin shivers. Just as he’s about to step back inside to grab a hoodie, Jisung’s door slides open.

They stare at each other quietly. There’s a new feeling here that tingles Seungmin’s skin, a wave of emotion that he can’t put a name on. Relief? Happiness? Love? When Jisung doesn’t say anything, Seungmin tries to test the waters.

“Hi, Ji.”

Jisung steps towards him, until they’re only a foot apart, separated only by the dividing cement of their balconies.

“You stink.”

Seungmin floods with relief and hides it with a soft laugh.

“I haven’t showered from baseball practice yet,” he replies before sneezing.

Jisung hums.

“H-How was your day?” Seungmin asks, feeling a little awkward from who knows why.

“I’ve had better ones,” Jisung pouts and crosses his arms. It’s cute. “Can I come over?”

“Of course.”

No other answer is acceptable.

When Seungmin finishes showering and eating dinner, he knocks on his bedroom wall three times. As soon as he does, he could almost hear Jisung’s quick little feet speeding from his bedroom to the Kim’s apartment.

Seungmin opens the door to let Jisung in, the younger boy sneezing before they settle into Seungmin’s room. He doesn’t turn on the lights, preferring the natural light coming from outside to make his room less dim. It’s more comfortable this way, he thinks.

Biting his lips, Seungmin sits on his bed with Jisung following suit. An uncomfortable silence settles into the air, one that usually never appears when Seungmin and Jisung spend time together.

It’s so awkward that Seungmin can’t help but break the quiet.

“Hey, are we… are we okay?”

Jisung looks down and starts playing with his own fingers.

“Yeah,” he says. “Today just got me thinking…”

Seungmin wonders about what? Jisung is never the type to overthink. He’s all action first, consequences later.

“I know you’re probably thinking that it’s weird that I’m thinking. But I think maybe you might have thought about what I’ve thought about as well?”

“I’ve never heard you say the word ‘think’ or ‘thought’ this much,” Seungmin jokes, attempting to lighten the mood. Jisung snickers, and Seungmin feels proud of himself for making him do so. He takes Jisung’s hand in his so that he would stop playing with fingers. “Whatever it is, we’ll get through it. We always do, yeah?”

Jisung looks at him and swallows.

“Well, it’s just that… If you-” Jisung starts before exhaling. “When you do get a boyfriend or a girlfriend or whatever you’re into these days, you’ll still spend time with me, right? I’ll still be your best friend, and we’ll still have our nightly talks and do our nightly homework and have our occasional sleepovers. Right?”

Seungmin’s heart aches at how Jisung sounded so small at the end.

“Oh, Ji,” Seungmin fully faces him with his body and gives him a hug. “Of course we will.”

Jisung burrows his head into Seungmin’s neck. And Seungmin continues.

“We’ll still go to our balcony every night unless I sleep over at their house. We’ll do homework together as usual. And my bed is always open for my best friend. I don’t think you should worry about me forgetting you if I get into a relationship because our friendship matters most.”

Jisung nods from where he’s slotted.

“First of all, I don’t even think I’ll be getting a boyfriend or a girlfriend anytime soon.”

Seungmin feels Jisung still at this. Two beats or three passes, and Seungmin adds more since Jisung doesn’t seem like he’d reply.

“Anyway, regardless of if I do or not, you’ll still be my top priority,” Seungmin says into Jisung’s hair. It’s a slight mixture of strawberries and boy.

“Okay,” Jisung replies into Seungmin’s neck. And then he looks up. “You’re my top priority too.”

Seungmin smiles, glad that they’re both on the same page again. He lies down on the bed and spreads his arms so that Jisung could settle himself in it. With Jisung’s head on his chest and Jisung’s arms around his torso, Seungmin feels most safe.

“Let’s just stay like this for a while,” Jisung suggests, and Seungmin is more than happy to agree. Like this, he can’t help but stare at the ceiling, wishing it was the night sky he was looking at right now.

There’s something to be said about two people cuddling. Regardless of their relationship, they find comfort in the physical presence of each other, and that’s exactly how Seungmin feels about Jisung. It’s in the way Jisung breathes in and out softly, as if he’s afraid to make too much noise lest he disturb the surrounding peace and quiet. It’s the way his hands tighten just the tiniest bit whenever he thinks of something that warrants it, the way his legs go over Seungmin’s, both to keep him in place and make sure that he’s still there. It all has Seungmin feeling giddy and secure at the same time.

Sooner or later, Seungmin finds himself closing his eyes and focusing on their breathing. And it’s about two minutes in when he notices that Jisung’s breaths have become too even, suggesting that the older boy must have fallen asleep. The last thing Seungmin remembers before slumber takes over is him trying to match his inhales and exhales with the boy in his arms.

***

The first thing Seungmin notices when he wakes up the first time is that he feels hot. Uncomfortably so. It’s that sticky feeling of semi-dried sweat after hours of skin-to-skin contact that makes him get twitchy. And while he wants to get out of the embrace, he also doesn’t want to wake Jisung.

The second thing that he notices is Jisung’s light snoring, if one could even call them that. It’s more like heavy breathing really, one that sounds lungful and deep and guttural. He supposes this means that Jisung is in a state of sleep in which it would be hard for him to wake up. So maybe Seungmin can just, you know, scoot away from his friend a little bit because his face is literally melting.

And the third thing Seungmin notices, much to his dismay, is the fact that he’s erect. Okay, it sounds bad, but honestly, Seungmin is a growing boy. He’s eighteen, and eighteen-year-old boys are generally horny, and Seungmin is not so different from the rest of them. That Jisung’s legs are snuggled dangerously close to his crotch is most definitely the reason why his member is reacting in such an… unusual manner. 

He knows, or at least hopes, that even if it were anybody else, Seungmin Jr. would probably react the same way. Right? He closes his eyes and prays that Jisung won’t wake up with Seungmin’s ding dong basically right up against his thigh. And though it may seem easy to let his erection die down, it’s actually incredibly difficult, with Jisung’s exhalations tickling his neck.

It could have been minutes or hours, he isn’t sure, before Seungmin was able to reel in the blood that was pumping to his member. Instead of trying to move away, he instead put his efforts into falling asleep.

The most annoying thing about sleep is that it never comes whenever Seungmin wants it to. And as if to spite him even more, it stays away whenever he tries to call it back. Seungmin closes his eyes, but as soon as he does so, thoughts and worries flood his mind.

Who are the letters from? He thinks he has a hunch, but… no way. Unless? He racks his brain trying to figure out who might be placing them on Seungmin’s desk. Who has Seungmin made significant interactions with in the past year? Past two years even? He hasn’t had any important meetings in the past couple of years. Do Hyunjin and Felix even count? Felix did say he wasn’t straight either. And he did seem pretty intrigued with Seungmin’s sexual orientation as well as relationship availability. So maybe? And what are the chances that Hyunjin also isn’t straight? Probably very slim. Hmm, Hyunjin didn’t even read the note that Eunbi wrote for him. Is that reason enough to believe that there’s a chance he’s not straight? Seungmin shrugs in his mind.

So then… It must be either Felix or Jisung. With Hyunjin as a possible third. It could also be that junior that he had tutored, the one with cute braces and a cuter smile. Though that’s very unlikely. How would he even know where Seungmin sat? He could have asked Seungmin’s classmates, but that still doesn’t seem very plausible. And if it is Jisung, he’s doing a very good job of hiding it. Gosh, he’s getting really confused. Why must sleep evade him so skillfully?

Anyway, he’s gonna catch his secret admirer today. He has a plan.  But first, he really needs to move his arm. It’s going numb from where Jisung is lying on it. He wonders what lunch will be today. And if Hyunjin and Felix would sit with them once more. And if Hyunjin and Jisung would still butt heads about the smallest thing, like homework, and oh my god. Oh shit. Ah fuck, he forgot to do homework tonight with Jisung. Maybe he could do it a couple of hours before he goes to school? That’s like, in what, four hours? That’s four more hours of sleep he can get. Seungmin curses inwardly and sets his alarm.

The funny thing about sleep is that it always comes back, and sometimes it comes back without Seungmin realizing it’s coming. One of the last things he remembers before falling asleep once more is being definitely sure that he’ll find out the identity of his secret admirer, or at least significantly narrow it down to a handful of people. He also remembers thinking about pretty flowers and three pretty boys.

***

Seungmin turns off his alarms when it rings. This time, he wakes up alone in his bed, and he feels kind of cold from the lack of Jisung. Yawning, he goes over to his desk to start on homework.

Thankfully, he’s able to finish it quickly. After showering, he takes photos of them and sends them to Jisung and takes the bus to vocal lessons.

Cue phase 1 of Seungmin’s plans.

Once he’s on campus, he takes the long route to vocal lessons, a path that takes him to his homeroom. He does a quick little peek to see if anyone is in there, but there’s only Doyeon and Jeongseop sitting down and no note on Seungmin’s desk. He crosses them off his list of students and makes his merry way to Coach Choi’s office.

Passing by a familiar hall, he notices Mr. Tuan entering through the doors that lead to the library. Seungmin snickers in disbelief. He needs to update Felix about the blossoming romance between Mr. Tuan and the handsome librarian, Mr. Park.

When Seungmin gets to Coach Choi’s office, they greet each other good morning. But it’s not until the middle of his lesson that he starts phase 2 of his plan: asking his vocal coach if he could use the bathroom.

As soon as Coach Choi gives a nod, Seungmin is out the door and is sprinting to his homeroom. Some people give him a judgmental look as he runs past them, but he doesn’t care, only cares about finding out who it is.

Holding his breath, Seungmin takes a peek into the little see-through glass on the door. He’s as shocked as he is unsurprised about the fact that the three main candidates he suspected were there. Sitting in the front is Felix, looking down on his phone. Seungmin guesses he’s probably on social media watching the videos on his feed or timeline. In the middle row, he could almost feel the frantic panic oozing out of Han Jisung. His pen is scratching at the paper quickly, for sure copying the photos of homework Seungmin had sent him an hour ago. Sitting in the back is Hyunjin, eyes closed and earbuds on. Seungmin wonders what he’s listening to, if it sounds as relaxing as Hyunjin looks right now.

He shakes his head and zones in on his own desk. Sure enough, there lies a piece of paper there, a pale violet heart of sorts. He doesn’t bother doing a quick survey of the class to eliminate others. He has a gut feeling that the answer is one of the three. Feeling satisfied and unsatisfied at the same time, Seungmin makes his way back to his lessons.

“That took long,” Coach Choi says nonchalantly when Seungmin enters through the doors again.

Seungmin, unsure whether he should reply or not, chooses to do the former. 

“Yeah,” he says, scratching his cheek as he tries to figure out what to use as a good excuse. His mouth moves much faster than his brain though, so he ends up replying with “I had to poop. S-Sorry.”

He gives himself a mental facepalm but soldiers through the embarrassment and the lesson regardless.

The first thing he does as soon as he gets to homeroom is to look at the note that he knows is already on the desk. Like all the others, it’s cut into the shape of a heart. The color is not pale violet as he had thought earlier, Seungmin tells himself as he inspects the note closer. It’s more of a shade of bluish-purple that can’t decide whether it wants to be blue or wants to be purple.

Seungmin knows the feeling all too well.

 _Day 4: Kim Seungmin <3 _  
_Rose are red, vincas are periwinkle,_ _  
Your cute little laugh makes your bright eyes twinkle!_

Seungmin giggles quietly as he reads it. This is one is really cute.

He chances a look at Jisung, already with his head in his hands, before moving onto Hyunjin in the back. The tall boy gives him a smile and Seungmin gives one back. A glance at Felix shows that the older boy is looking at him intently. Seungmin gives him a wave and Felix gives him a thumbs up.

Seungmin then turns the card over to read the phrase that he already knows would be there.

_Things I adore about Kim Seungmin: (4) his adorable open-mouthed laugh~_

Instantly feeling self-conscious, Seungmin covers his mouth. He feels his ears get warm, but he has no time to adjust since Mr. Tuan is already walking through the door, the sly fox.

Seungmin wakes up Jisung almost robotically, shaking him until the older boy gives him a pout but sits up nonetheless.

***

Seungmin and Felix are on the bus to _hagwon_ when Felix invites him to a party. And while Seungmin is fond of Felix, he’s not sure if he’s willing to suffer through an entire party for him. Party. People. It’s just not Seungmin’s style, but-

“And it’s going to be on Saturday, so you don’t even have to worry about homework or curfew or anything. It’ll be great, trust me!” Felix says excitedly. His smile is directed exactly at Seungmin, and the younger boy can’t help but notice how extremely white and perfectly straight Felix’s teeth are. Honestly, his smiles are blinding. “I know you’re not a fan of parties, but I’ll be there to hang out with you the whole time.”

Seungmin scrunches his nose. “The _whole_ time?”

“Okay, maybe not the _whole_ time, but a good chunk of it, I’m sure!” Felix replies before grabbing both of Seungmin’s hands in his. Seungmin hopes he’s not red.  “It’ll be a great way to meet new people. Since Valentine’s Day is almost coming up, maybe you’ll find someone there to be your Valentine.”

Seungmin is about to argue further, but Felix goes and uses his trump card. He pouts his lips and furrows his brows, head tilted down but looking up at Seungmin with big, wavering eyes. Unexpectedly, it reminds Seungmin of a kitty silently asking for treats.

Now who could say no to a sight like that? Not Seungmin, no. He’s weak...

“Okay,” Seungmin agrees, sighing heavily.

“Yay! We’re gonna have so much fun! I’m so excited!”

“But only as long as I can invite Jisung.”

Felix blinks at him. Seungmin wants to know what he’s thinking. Felix is taking a while to answer, and Seungmin wonders if Felix heard him correctly. He’s about to ask again when-

“Yeah, that’s fine!” Felix says, smiling with his eyes half-closed. Seungmin thinks it looks as fake as it does real but doesn’t mention it.

“Thank you, Felix. I’m glad you thought me close enough to invite to a party.”

Felix snorts but grins after that. This one looks real, and Seungmin kind of feels like he’s staring into the sun. “Of course. What are partners for?”

Partners? Is that what they are? When they finish _hagwon_ , Felix drags him to the ice cream parlor just a couple of blocks down.

“My treat,” Felix reassures him. And there’s that smile again, and Seungmin can’t help but feel a little shaken at the knees.

“Only if you’re sure,” Seungmin answers, ducking his head.

“Positive.”

Felix orders a scoop of mango and a scoop of strawberry, paying extra for sprinkles because he has the biggest sweet tooth. Seungmin is content with two scoops of vanilla because while it’s regular and classic, it tends to be a favorite of the masses.

Seungmin thanks him profusely, mentioning it at least three times as they make their way to the bus stop.

He’s licking his ice cream when he gets the sudden urge to sneeze. His mom has always told him to never suppress it, so he waits patiently for the sneeze to come. Once he lets it out, nose tingly from the action, he feels his face get dangerously close to the ice cream. It didn’t touch his hair though, so he should be fine.

“There’s something on-” Felix points towards his nose.

“Hmm?”

“Ice cream,” he answers. “On your nose.”

Flushing, Seungmin tries to rub it away with his other hand, the one not holding the ice cream cone. He thinks he’s gotten most of it, but he wants to be sure. 

“Did I get it all?”

“Here,” Felix says. Using his free hand, the older boy licks his thumb before wiping away something that still must have been on Seungmin’s face. Licked thumbs? Is that even allowed? “Got the rest.”

Suffice it to say, Seungmin felt incredibly conflicted at the confusing emotions washing over him. So much so that he didn’t even realize it was time to separate ways and hop on different buses.

“Saturday, for sure, right?” Felix points at him.

Seungmin nods. “I promise.”

“Good. I’ll see you there. Bye, Seungmin~”

“See you tomorrow!” Seungmin waves goodbye.

***

When Seungmin gets home, he does his usual routine: talking to Jisung, showering, eating dinner, and doing homework.

Seungmin had brought up the party invitation to Jisung, and the older boy was too enthusiastic about it for his own good, already assuming that he and Seungmin would leave their apartment complex together, even if the younger hadn’t agreed to anything.

“Fuck yes,” he had basically yelled into Seungmin’s face. “We’re going to be able to drink and have fun and meet people, and most importantly drink.”

Typical.

“And we’re going to make you look hot as fuck,” Jisung had guaranteed him. “We’re going to make every single person at the party fall for you a little.”

Seungmin snickered. Not likely, but he likes a challenge.

Seungmin eats dinner and invites Jisung over to do homework, but the older boy only stayed for two hours before calling it quits and addressing his Calculus textbook as the “Textbook of Silly Symbols and Things.”

Just as Seungmin is getting ready for bed, teeth brushed and face cleansed, he gets a string of message from someone.

 _Hyunjin:_  
_Seungminnie~_  
_i hope you’re not sleeping yet! so if you are i’m sorry for possibly waking you up_  
_but i wanted to invite you to this super cool, super fun party on saturday!_  
_though if you already have p_  
_asdjkfhaf sorry, accidentally pressed enter… if you already have plans, i would understand_ _  
you should come though, it’ll be super cool and super fun!_

Seungmin chuckles at how Hyunjin types messages and sends them in phrases. It’s funny how even the way he types is a good representation of his usual personality, if that even makes sense. 

 _Seungmin:_  
_Hey, Hyunjin! No, you’re fine, I haven’t fallen asleep yet. As for that party, I’m already going to one on Saturday…_ _  
What are the chances that it would be the same one?_

 _Hyunjin:_  
_sfjdh oh no._ _  
uhm, low i suppose?_

 _Seungmin:_ _  
_ _Haha. Mayhaps! The one I’m going to will be in Yongsan-gu._

 _Hyunjin:_ _  
_ _SSLKDLSKDSK IN THE ITAEWON AREA?!?!_

Seungmin does a double-take. What are the chances…?

 _Seungmin:_ _  
_ _Oh. Yeah, actually. One of the hosts is the cousin of a friend of mine. Bang Chan._

 _Hyunjin:  
DSHFSH THAT’S CHANGBIN HYUNG’S HOUSEMATE!!! OH MY GDODODD!!! _ _  
_ _I CAN’T BELIVE WE’RE GOING TO THE SAME PARTTYYY_

 _Seungmin:_ _  
_ _Me neither lol. What a small world!_

 _Hyunjin:_  
 _indeed! :)_  
 _i guess i’ll see you there!_  
 _unless..._ _  
would you want to go together?_

Seungmin hesitates. He wonders how it will go over if he went together with Jisung _and_ Hyunjin at the same time. He immediately shakes the idea away, knowing full well that the tension between the two will drive him nuts.

 _Seungmin:_ _  
_ _Ah, I’m sorry. I already told Jisung that I would go with him. Next party though, for sure!_

 _Hyunjin:_  
 _of course you’re going with jisung lmao_  
_silly me !_ _  
see you tomorrow, Seungminnie~_

 _Seungmin:_ _  
_ _See you! Good night._

 _Hyunjin:_ _  
__nighty night! :)_

When he puts his phone away, Seungmin thinks back to the start of the morning. He lets out a long sigh, one that’s necessary for such a long day. There is almost full certainty that the person giving him these notes is one of his friends. As to who might it be, he’s not completely sure. What he is sure of is the fact that he doesn’t know which suitor he prefers.

He’s never had a Valentine before (or been in a romantic relationship for that matter), so he doesn’t know what he should be looking for and what signs he should be listening to. All of them have a way of making Seungmin’s heart race and get his palm sweaty, and Seungmin knows each one of them has their own pros and cons.

He supposes he won’t know the answer until the day they reveal themselves. And even then, would Seungmin be happy with the outcome?

Sighing, Seungmin brings his blanket up over himself, willing for sleep to come. It eventually does, but not before a feeling of being appreciated by three important people blooms in his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I've been working on a Fic Fest, so I haven't been focusing on this project lately. But trust me! I'll definitely finish this before my quarter starts.
> 
> Once again, thank you for reading. Kudos and comments are very much appreciated.


	5. His Exquisite Taste in Fashion~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh no. Seungmin gets sick. Who's going to take care of him? :x

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with an update! This chapter is longer than usual. My chapters have been hovering around 3.8k, but this one is 5.5k. I actually had planned to add more, but I'll just include them in the next one, which I think is going to be lengthy as well, seeing as it's going to be the chapter for The Party.
> 
> Anyway! Self-edited. Sorry for the mistakes! Please point them out and tell me in the comments. Kudos and comments appreciated!
> 
> Tell me who you're rooting for! It's not going to change the ending, but I just want to know :')

It’s 4:17 am when Seungmin wakes up from shivering. As soon as he opens his eyes, he knows for sure what’s up. He’s been sneezing a lot the last two days, and he hasn’t exactly taken care of his body. Two nights ago, he stayed at the balcony for a while, regardless of the chilly breeze that surely must have affected his body. Just last night, he went out with Felix to get ice cream, and that certainly must have been a contributing factor.

His nose is a little runny, and his chest feels congested, and he really just wants to go back to sleep. With all the energy he can muster, he reaches for his phone to send a message to Coach Choi. The backlight is blinding, and Seungmin has to close his eyes for a few seconds because the brightness of it has him a little dizzy.

When he comes to, he quickly uses night mode and tells his vocal coach that he’s not feeling well today at all and hopes that they can reschedule their lesson today or do a double session on Monday.

As soon as he sends it though, his eyelids drag down, and he doesn’t have enough strength to open them again. So he lets them stay closed. It feels good that way anyway.

***

It’s five hours later when he wakes up again, which means it’s an hour and a half after school started, which means it’s his second class right now. Oh gods. He’s missing class right now.

Surprisingly, his sleep-addled brain and weak body aren't letting him be too stressed at this fact. If anything, he thinks it’s good to miss school right now. His mom has always said that the key to a fast recovery is deep, deep sleep.

And he definitely needs a speedy recovery since he doesn’t like what he’s feeling one bit. His head is aching a little bit, and it kind of feels like he’s in a bubble with the way things sound right now. It’s almost like he’s underwater. He’s uncomfortably cold, and there are still all the symptoms of a heavy cold.

Perhaps he can use sickness as a way to slither out of the party tomorrow. While he does want to skip it, he’s not a big fan of disappointing his friends. Felix had invited him and was super excited at the fact that Seungmin is going, so much so that he’s willing to stay by Seungmin’s side for most of the party. Jisung had been eager to attend, already planning out ideas for his outfit as well as Seungmin’s. And Hyunjin had texted him specifically about the party. And he had sounded thrilled at the fact that they were going to the same event, hadn’t he?

Now how could Seungmin say no to all of them?

Suddenly, he has the urge to text all three of them, just to tell them he’s not dead or anything. He wonders if they’ve even texted him to check up on it, but shakes the idea away. As soon as he does, he has to close his eyes because wow. Mental note: don’t move head too much when sick. 

He doesn’t need to reach for his phone this time because it’s still in his hand. Apparently, he fell asleep with it after texting Coach Choi. Sighing, he unlocks his phone to see what his vocal coach said and is flabbergasted at the number of notifications he has.

Blinking once to make sure he’s not hallucinating, Seungmin sees that he has 42 messages and 8 missed calls. His ears must have been super clogged. How did he sleep through all of that? He must have slept through his alarm too, oh my.

Opening the messaging app, he checks to see what Coach Choi had responded with first. Seungmin is glad because Coach Choi was sympathetic and agreed that they could cancel with the promise of having two sessions much later on. Not this coming week, it seems, because it would be too early, and Coach Choi doesn’t want him to strain his throat after being sick. His coach wished him a speedy recovery, and Seungmin feels thankful for having such a good and understanding vocal coach.

And then he has to choose whose message to open first. Seungmin knows the answer immediately and opens Jisung’s because they’re best friends, and best friends always come first.

 _Jisung:_  
_best friend where are u? its 8:05 already and mr. tuan is here already_  
_best friend are u awake?_  
_best friend where u at?_  
_did u skip school today?_  
_hey are u ok? call me_  
_our first class is almost ending._  
_did u forget to wake up?_  
_u forgot to wake up didn’t u?_  
_lol ur so dumb. call me when u wake up._  
_or text me!_  
_whichever one u prefer.._  
_best friend where are u?_  
_ur usually awake by now.._ _  
seungmin??_

Seungmin knows that it’s in the middle of their second class right now, and he shouldn’t call Jisung. He settles for a text, but he’s still surprised at how frantic Jisung sounded.

 _Seungmin:_ _  
_ _Ji! Sorry to make you worry. I’m actually sick today, so I didn’t go to school. Don’t worry though, it’s nothing bad. I think it’s mostly a cold and over-exhaustion from baseball practice and staying up and stuff. No biggie! ^_^_

Jisung’s reply is lightning quick.

 _Jisung:_  
_bEST FRINED!!!!_  
_UR ALIVE_  
_AND SICK OH NO_ _  
[...]_

Jisung is still typing, but Seungmin uses this as his chance to reply to the other two boys. Seungmin chooses who texted most recently, and it just so happens to be Hyunjin.

 _Hyunjin:_  
_hey !_  
_Seungminnie~_  
_i noticed you’re not in school today!_  
_mr. tuan’s class started twenty minutes ago._  
_just wanted to check up on you!_  
_see if you’re okay and stuff._  
_hey_  
_Seungminnie !_  
_did you accidentally not wake up today?_  
_lmao_  
_i sent my last text bc i don’t think i’ve ever seen you miss school before lmao_  
_second class started and you’re still not here, weird._  
_you didn’t skip did you?_ _  
i hope you’re not sick.._

Seungmin finds himself snickering a little bit. Hyunjin is correct, he hasn’t missed school before. Generally, even if he’s a bit sick, he still goes to classes but takes extra care not to spread his germs everywhere because he doesn’t want to get people sick. Today is different, apparently, as he didn’t even wake up to his alarm.

 _Seungmin:_ _  
_ _Hey, Hyunjin! Yeah, sorry. I didn’t skip, but I actually am sick though. I also didn’t wake up from my alarm, which is weird. I usually wake up, even if I am sick… Anyway, thank you for checking up on me! :D_

Seungmin sends it. Though he mentally facepalms because he usually double-checks for errors when he sends messages. He reads it once, twice, before thinking it good enough. He’s about to go to Felix’s inbox when Hyunjin texts back multiple times in a row. It’s not as quick as Jisung’s, though he supposes that’s because he actually pays attention in class unlike his squirrel of a best friend.

 _Hyunjin:_  
_Seungminnie ! hi!!!_  
_oh no, i jinxed it!_  
_i made you sick.._  
_i’m glad you’re okay though !_  
_wait, no i’m not glad you’re sick._ _  
i’m glad you’re awake and texting back i mean._

 _Seungmin:_ _  
_ _Yes, Hyunjin, I got that. Lol, you didn’t jinx anything. I was sick before you even texted, silly. Go pay attention in class._

He exits out of the chat and opens Felix’s messages. Gosh, this is tiring.

 _Felix:_  
_Seungmiiiiin_  
_where r u???_  
_ur usually in ur seat before Mr. Tuan even gets here. hahaha_  
_btw do u have any more news about them? bc i made an oops._  
_Seungmin u didn’t skip with Jisung did u?_  
_jk i just looked back and Jisung is here but ur not._  
_Seungmin_  
_Seungmiiiiin_  
_Seungmiiiiiiiiin_  
_i don’t think i’ve seen u miss class before. r u okayy?_  
_OMG i hope ur not sickkk_  
_ur probably still asleep oops_ _  
text back when u read this so i know ur okayy!!_

From what Seungmin gathered here, Felix looks back whenever classes start. To see him, maybe? The thought of Felix purposefully looking back every day to catch Seungmin’s eyes has the younger boy feeling funny in the tummy. He supposes Jisung would obviously notice Seungmin’s absence, seeing as they sit right next to each other, and Hyunjin sits a couple of seats behind him, so he’s usually in Hyunjin’s line of vision. 

 _Seungmin:_ _  
_ _Feliiiiix! No, I didn’t skip. Why do people think I’m capable of skipping? No, I’m just sick. And my alarm didn’t wake me either, lol. But also, now that you bring them up, I forgot to tell you last night! I saw Mr. Tuan entering the library before our class started. Hehe, they must have thought they were being so sneaky. They’re cute though. Sucks for the people crushing on Mr. Tuan haha! Anyway, thanks for checking up on me! :)_

Seungmin makes sure to double-check this time before sending. Felix doesn’t text back super quickly either, which again, Seungmin is sure because he sits at the front and actually pays attention. He sighs and opens Jisung’s messages again.

 _Jisung:_  
_bEST FRINED!!!!_  
_UR ALIVE_  
_AND SICK OH NO_  
_btw felix and hyunjin asked me about u before our second class started. i told them i didnt know and that u probably didn’t wake up lmao._ _  
anyway ur secret admirer still left a note for u. do u want me to bring it back when i come home?_

Seungmin swallows. He understood Felix and Hyunjin texting him asking him where he was, but he didn’t think they would be so caring enough actually ask Jisung about his whereabouts. His heart is swelling with affection for his friends.

 _Seungmin:_ _  
_ _Oh, they did? Lol. I’m glad you didn’t tell them I skipped or something. And yeah, can you pretty please bring it? Thanks, you’re the best!_

Seungmin puts his phone on the bedside table and only now notices the medicine and the note written on there.

 _Eat breakfast and drink medicine_ _  
_ _Love, Mom_

Seungmin holds back a smile and does just that. He ends up napping again after taking his medicine, his body surely unable to function properly at the moment. He doesn’t dream of anything.

When he wakes up again, it’s almost lunchtime. Seungmin sends texts to his friends again and his mom, insisting that he’s okay and that they need not worry. He makes ramen for lunch because he can’t be fucked to do much more than that and dutifully drinks his medicine on time.

He spends his time trying to read, but that made him a bit dizzy. He tried to play games on his phone, but it hurt his eyes after a while. He’s about to fall asleep again when his phone rings. It’s Jisung.

“Best friend, I’m outside. Open the door.”

Seungmin blinks, pulling away from his phone to check the time, and sure enough, school has already ended.

“Coming.”

When he opens the door, Jisung envelops him in a hug.

“Awh, best friend. You look so cute and snuggly. Come on, let’s get you to bed again. Can’t have you standing up for too long.”

Seungmin is about to protest, but his body is agreeing with Jisung. Standing up for too long makes his limbs feel incredibly heavy. He lets Jisung sit him down on the bed, putting the blanket over his legs and wrapping one of the scarves that were hanging behind the door around Seungmin’s neck.

Seungmin feels like a marshmallow.

“Did you eat lunch already?”

Seungmin nods.

“And took your meds?”

Seungmin nods once more.

“Good,” Jisung says, petting Seungmin’s hair. He swings his backpack around and pulls out a bright green heart, unfolded and pristine, thank god. “Anyway, this was the note that was on your desk today.”

“You actually brought it! Thank you, Ji,” Seungmin tells him, gingerly taking the letter.

“Of course I would,” Jisung tsks. “I’m the best friend there is.”

He really, truly is.

 _Day 5: Kim Seungmin <3 _  
_Roses are red, bells of Ireland are lime,_ _  
Your dandy fashion style is truly sublime!_

He turns it around to see what they put on the back this time.

_Things I adore about Kim Seungmin: (5) his exquisite taste in fashion~_

Seungmin coos, feeling all warm all of a sudden, though he’s not sure if that’s because his illness is getting to him, because of the love note, or because of the way Jisung is looking at him softly, with eyes sparkling like stars.

“Are you okay?” Seungmin asks with a funny expression.

“Oh, yeah!” Jisung answers, rubbing the back of his head. “I was just reading the note. Dandy fashion style, I mean. They’re not wrong.”

Jisung comes over and pushes Seungmin over with his hip so that they’re sitting close, side-by-side. He recounts the funny things that had happened today, like how Eunbi was trying her best to get Hyunjin’s attention.

“But his eyes were basically glued to his phone, texting the whole day. You should have seen her face when he started laughing.”

And that Felix apparently called Mr. Tuan as Mr. Park.

“And the whole class laughed,” Jisung says through a grin. “Though I’m not sure if that was because Felix made a mistake, or because of the way Mr. Tuan started stuttering and getting red in the ears. It was an absolute sight.”

And how Felix and Hyunjin joined him in the lunch table today.

“Yeah, it was weirdly quiet. Or at least less loud than usual. We all kind of wished you were there and were a bit worried about you since you were just stuck in bed, sick and all.”

“You guys are silly, I’m fine.”

Jisung grabs Seungmin’s arm and cuddles it. “Yeah, you better be. I need my best friend back so school will be fun again.”

Seungmin scoffs. “School is always fun.”

And then Jisung lets out an audible gasp, sitting up but refusing to let go of Seungmin. “Best friend! I just realized... It’s Friday!"

At this Seungmin perks up. "Did you bring it?" Though Seungmin already knows the answer because Jisung carries it in his backpack every day.

Jisung is grinning at him again, and Seungmin swears he’s seen Jisung’s smile in the constellations, somewhere between Hercules and Cassiopeia. He smiles in return.

“Heck yeah, I brought my Switch. Let’s fucking Smash!”

They play a little bit of Smash Ultimate, playing only ten rounds because Seungmin is sick and he shouldn’t be playing video games. Or at least, that’s what his mom always says. He thinks that that’s untrue, but he likes to believe his mom anyway.

But perhaps he shouldn’t have played. Seungmin had lost three times in a row as Goth Kirby, while Jisung kept winning with Blonde Lucina. And it’s all making Seungmin very stressed because he’s competitive and he despises losing. He doesn’t even like winning, he just hates losing. There’s a big difference.

“Waifus are the best, man. Bring out your best waifu, and you can beat me,” Jisung teases.

“Shut up, you’re annoying.”

Seungmin doesn’t pick his waifu, keeping that as his last resort. He does choose one of his mains though, Dark Pit. And it takes a few minutes before Seungmin finally ends Jisung’s streak with a side special, causing Jisung to shriek because he _wasn’t expecting that, best friend, holy shit!_

Jisung chooses Zero Suit Samus this time, still going on about how waifus are the best. Seungmin kind of agrees with him, but he’s not going to tell him that because it would inflate Jisung’s already big head.

He ends up using Isabelle and his best main, Black and Yellow Peach, the last couple of rounds. It’s to no avail, though, as he ends up losing 6-4 to Jisung anyway.

“Robin delivers with a side smash, sending Peach skyrocketing to the heavens! And the crowd goes wild, chanting Robin, Robin, Robin, Rob-”

Seungmin hits him with a pillow. “Be quiet. Battle me again when I’m not sick, you bucktoothed dwarf.”

“Don’t be a sore loser, best friend!” Jisung smirks, and Seungmin isn’t going to bring up the time Jisung lost twelve times in a row with a whopping score of 2-13 and was on the verge of tears. Seungmin had asked, “Are you okay, Ji? How about we play a differe-” And Jisung had replied pointedly, “Nah, best, what the fuck? I'm good. Run that shit again!”

When Jisung finishes putting his console away, he settles himself on top of Seungmin’s legs and torso. He’s on his stomach, arms on top of Seungmin’s chest and his chin in his hands.

“Are you feeling better?” Jisung asks, pouting.

“A lot better,” Seungmin answers honestly. “I’m glad you came over to cheer me up.”

“I only came over to beat you in Smash. You really thought!”

Seungmin rolls his eyes, knowing for certain that Jisung feels uncomfortable saying too mushy thoughts and feelings.

“Think we’ll still be on for tomorrow?”

Seungmin looks at Jisung’s hopeful eyes, once again seeing stars even though the sun had yet to set. “I’ll try to be better by then.”

Jisung smiles and relaxes his head on Seungmin’s chest for a bit. He leaves shortly after, saying Seungmin needed to have a good rest and that he would prove to be too much of a distraction. Seungmin scoffs, knows for sure that his best friend just didn’t want to be sick as well because the party is coming.

His mom comes home and checks up on him really quickly, telling him that his forehead is feeling more like the regular human temperature, but that he shouldn’t do too many activities right now.

So he’s stuck in his bed for a bit, unsure of what to do. He rests for an hour or two, trying his best to stay away from social media since it strains his eyes at the moment. He fails though, and he’s been on his feed and timeline for the past thirty minutes, even if his eyes are starting to itch. Regardless of that though, he’s been doing okay. Shockingly, he’s been feeling better by the hour, and that’s probably thanks to the medicine that his mom had so kindly provided for him and the fact that he hasn’t overexerted his body.

Speaking of his mom, she knocks on his door lightly before peeking inside.

“Are you awake, honey?” Her voice is low and whispery.

“Yes, mom. What’s up?” He croaks.

“Just wanted to see if you’re feeling better,” she says, eyes soft as she scans him. “Also there’s someone else here to see you.”

Seungmin perks up at this. “Who?”

“A boy,” she answers. “Felix is his name, I think.”

F-Felix? Seungmin literally looks like shit right now, and while he doesn’t want to be alone at the moment, he also doesn’t want Lee Felix seeing him at his worst.

“Should I tell him to come inside?”

Since Felix is already here, it would be rude to make him wait. Seungmin will just have to deal with the embarrassment of being seen in his pajamas and messy hair.

“Sure.”

His mom gives him a smile and comes back with an adorable Felix, looking as uncertain as he does worried. She gives him a smile as she closes the door and gives them privacy.

“Hey, Seungmin,” he greets, approaching Seungmin while hugging notebooks and papers. “How are you feeling?”

“A little sick and a little tired, but what’s new.” Seungmin shrugs.

Felix gives him a light laugh before motioning at the foot of Seungmin’s bed. “Can I sit?”

Seungmin brings his legs towards himself as an answer, and Felix takes that as his opportunity to sit down. The bed dips at the weight of them, and Seungmin likes the feeling of it.

“What’s up, Young Box?”

Felix rolls his eyes but doesn’t argue, probably giving Seungmin a pass because he’s sick. Seungmin will definitely use this to his advantage.

“Well, since you told me you’re sick, I took the liberty of delivering you the homework that you’ve missed,” Felix explains, displaying the papers in front of Seungmin before setting them on the bedside table. “Since it’s going to be the weekend, the teachers actually gave us a considerable amount of work. And since you weren’t here today, I asked them for an extra copy so I could give them to you.”

Seungmin is dumbfounded. Felix is a literal angel, a godsend, surely a guardian sent by none other than Odin himself. 

“You did all that for me?”

“Well, of course,” Felix says shyly, dipping his head. “Are you saying you wouldn’t do it for me?”

“That’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m just surprised is all.”

Felix hums. “Anyhow, you can also text me if you have any questions. I figured you might need help considering you weren’t in class today, though I’m sure you’ll be fine since you’re smart. In any case, maybe I should just take photos of the notes I took today and send them to you!”

Seungmin is about to say no, that’s not necessary, but Felix doesn’t stop. Just keeps talking and acting and Seungmin finds it all adorably cute.

“Actually, that sounds like a good idea,” Felix tells to himself, eyes lighting up like sunshine. “I’ll do that right now.”

In one swift motion, Felix whips his phone out and shoulders off his backpack before taking out his notebooks and taking photos of them. Sure enough, Seungmin’s phone beeps with the messages, and he’s very thankful for having a responsible friend like Felix.

“It’s my pleasure,” the older boy says, before pocketing his phone and leaning closer to Seungmin. With a smile, Felix scoots next to Seungmin so that they’re shoulder-to-shoulder in bed, wrapping Seungmin with his arms and legs. Seungmin gives his friend a confused look, and Felix answers, “You look like you needed it.”

And true enough, Seungmin does.

“But you might get sick.”

“It’s okay. If I do, it’ll pass.”

And that’s how they find themselves cuddling for half an hour, talking about whatever comes to mind.

“Do you think you’ll be coming to the party still?” Felix asks, his head on Seungmin’s chest with the younger boys’ arms around him. “I mean, obviously you don’t have to if you’re not feeling well. But technically, you have a day and a half to feel a bit better right?”

“Right,” Seungmin agrees, facing Felix’s hair. “We’ll see how much better I’ll be, but I don’t want to bail on you.”

“It’s not bailing if you can’t help it,” Felix sighs. It’s true. “But I suppose if you truly can’t, I wouldn’t mind. Just know that I would have had more fun if you were there.”

“Well, nothing’s set in stone yet. Maybe I’ll feel a lot better by tomorrow.” Which, now that Seungmin thinks about it, is a very high possibility. He’s feeling a lot better than when he woke up this morning, when the three most prominent sensations were sickness and heat and death. “Actually, I’m already feeling better. Thanks to medicine and my friends taking care of me.”

“Friends?” Felix asks, tilting his head up to make eye contact with Seungmin. And Seungmin gives him a questioning look. Ah, friends. As in plural. As in more people were here?

“Oh, yeah. Jisung stopped by earlier to drop something off too, tried to cuddle me, but his bitch ass got scared that he would get sick.”

“Ah, yeah, that- that makes sense,” Felix replies, voice soft. And he’s suddenly retreating from Seungmin’s embrace, and the younger boy has to stop himself from whining at the loss of heat. Curse his tendency to become more affectionate when sick. “Anyway, I think I should head home. It’s getting late.”

And it’s not until then that Seungmin realizes exactly how out of the way Seungmin lives compared to Felix’s place. Felix and Seungmin go the opposite way when they leave _hagwon_ , which means that from Seungmin’s house, Felix still has to take public transportation back to _hagwon_ and then some!

“Oh gosh, you’re right!” Seungmin exclaims and Felix stands up and tidies himself. “It’s 7 and you still have a long way to go.”

Felix gives him an apologetic smile.

“Thank you so much for everything that you did, you honestly didn’t have to, but I appreciate it nonetheless,” Seungmin tells him, standing up as well to give Felix a hug. And when he does, Felix hugs him even tighter, and Seungmin has no choice but to melt into it. “You’re so awesome.”

“Shush, you’re making blush,” Felix says into Seungmin’s neck before leaning back and booping Seungmin’s nose with every sentence. “Rest lots tonight. And sleep well. And text me if you have questions about homework.”

“Aye aye, Captain Young Box!”

And then Felix is disentangling himself from Seungmin and sweeping up his backpack in one swift movement.

“Hopefully I’ll see you tomorrow.” Felix smiles, walking backward to the door.

“Hopefully. Text me when you get home so I know you made it back safely.”

“Of course,” Felix grins as he opens the bedroom door, his teeth resembling that of rays of sunlight. How is the sun out again at 7:00 pm? And then Felix is leaving, his head last to leave out the door as he bids Seungmin a “Good night, buddy. Feel better tomorrow.”

“Good night,” Seungmin replies to a closed door.

Seungmin plops down to his bed and pulls out a book from his drawer and opens it to the marked page. He’s halfway reading through the page when someone knocks on the door and opens it softly.

Without his eyes leaving the book, Seungmin asks, “Back so soon? Did you leave something, Felix?”

And the boy clears his throat. And Seungmin freezes. That voice is definitely not Felix’s voice. When Seungmin looks up, he sees Hyunjin at the door, smiling awkwardly with a tupperware in hand.

“H-Hyunjin! What are you doing here?” Seungmin asks, rattled. “I’m sorry, I thought you were Felix. I didn’t realize you were coming over. Oh gods, why are you coming over again? Did we plan something tonight? I’m sorry if I forg-”

Hyunjin giggles. “Slow down, Seungminnie. You’re rambling. And I can’t answer your questions if you keep asking more before I can even reply.”

Seungmin gives a short laugh. “Right, my bad.”

Hyunjin stalks closer slowly, not unlike how the moon glides through the sky at night. He sets the tupperware on the bedside table and plops down next to Seungmin. “To answer all of your questions, I’m here to drop off some food. Since you’re feeling under the weather, I thought I would bring you my mom’s cooking. She makes the best _galbitang_ when I’m sick. The beef soup really helps clear my sinuses. That’s why I’m coming over. And no, we did not plan anything tonight, so you don’t need to apologize. Did I answer everything?”

Seungmin nods dumbly. That still doesn’t explain why Hyunjin would drop off some food just because he’s sick. He eyes the tupperware now sitting on his table. It does look pretty appetizing.

“Thank you for being kind enough to come and give me some food,” he says, placing a marker on the book he was reading before putting it away in his drawer. “It looks really good. And you didn’t have to hassle your mom into making beef soup, but please send her my thanks as well.”

“It was our pleasure,” Hyunjin chuckles, hand coming up to rub his neck. “Did you want to have some right now? I can get a spoon for you. Where do you keep your utensils?”

“It’s in the kitchen. I can get it.”

“Nonsense!” Hyunjin says immediately, placing his hand on Seungmin’s chest to restrain him from getting up. “You shouldn’t strain your body. I’ll get it for you.”

Seungmin gapes at him, unsure if Hyunjin was being serious or not, but with the way the older boy is blinking back, waiting for an answer, Seungmin realizes that Hyunjin is being totally serious. “It’s in the- it’s two drawers from the right of the sink.”

Hyunjin nods cheerfully, waddling away to the kitchen. What the heck is going on? Seungmin had expected a visit from Jisung because he lives next door and they’ve been best friends for years, but he didn’t count on Felix coming over as well as Hyunjin. While Felix’s reasoning of coming over with homework is valid, Hyunjin’s reason is simply out of the ordinary. 

Well, that’s not quite true. From all the interactions that Seungmin has had with Hyunjin, he seemed like a genuinely kind person. He wears his heart on his sleeve, easily swayed by his emotions rather than his critical thinking. Seungmin supposes that it’s probably in Hyunjin’s character to be a friend to the fullest and would explain why he’s in Seungmin’s apartment right now, delivering soup and grabbing utensils.

When Hyunjin gets back, he’s holding up a spoon and chopsticks and grinning like he just accomplished the biggest task. “I found ‘em!”

And then he’s opening the tupperware of _galbitang_ , still hot and steaming it seems, which is perfect because Seungmin really wants to eat something that would make him feel better right now. Except, when Seungmin reach for the spoon, Hyunjin is already dipping it into the soup, and it almost looks as if he’s going to-

“Say _ah_.”

Seungmin, sick, confused, and panicked, does as he's told. As soon as he opens his mouth, Hyunjin feeds him a spoonful of hot soup. Seungmin almost moans at how rich it tastes, a nice blend of salty and beefy and something that’s inexplicably soup.

“Does it taste good?”

Does it taste good? Is the earth round? Is the sun hot? Galloping gargoyles, of course, it tastes good.

“It tastes amazing,” Seungmin says, glad the stew isn’t spicy. If that was the case, Seungmin isn’t sure if he could handle it. Hyunjin offers more, this time with a chopstick full of glass noodles and Korean radish. Seungmin accepts them gracefully, ignoring the tingling in his stomach and the small voice that’s whispering _this isn’t normal_.

It is normal, though. Isn’t it? Hasn’t Seungmin and Jisung fed each other a lot of times before? _But you guys are best friends_. And Seungmin has fed Felix chicken nuggets before. _Wasn’t that just you being nice?_ Then doesn’t that mean that Hyunjin is also just being nice?

Seungmin is brought back from his thoughts when Hyunjin offers him more soup, this time with a small piece of beef and sliced omelet. Seungmin doesn’t let his mind wander into the domesticity of it.

Hyunjin coughs. “Anyway, you called me Felix when I came in. Was he here earlier too?”

Seungmin nods, swallowing the food in his mouth. “Yeah. He came by to drop off our homework.”

Hyunjin sucks in a gasp, facepalming as he does so. “Oh, stupid, stupid! Why didn’t I think of that?”

Seungmin pulls Hyunjin’s hand away from his face. “Whoa, it’s not that big of a deal. I appreciate what you’ve both done for me. It means a lot. Thank you.”

“Yeah?” Hyunjin asks, uncertain.

“Yeah.”

Hyunjin gives him a bright smile. It reminds Seungmin eerily of moonshine, eyes glowing like moonlight in the evening.

They talk about what the team did during practice. _Nothing much, just did the same old drills and things._ And how Hyunjin knew about the party. _I’m close with Changbin-hyung! Of course he would invite me._ And if Seungmin thinks he can still go. _Probably, I’m feeling a lot better already thanks all of you guys!_

Hyunjin bids him goodbye, taking the empty container and the utensils. “I’ll put in the sink for you so you don’t have to get up.”

Seungmin shows his gratitude by giving him a quick hug. “Hopefully, I’ll see you tomorrow, Hyunjinnie.”

“Wh-What?” Hyunjin croaks.

“I said ‘hopefully, I’ll see you tomorrow,’ because you know, I’m sick and all. And there’s a party.”

“No, after that. You just called me Hyunjinnie.” He says, gulping.

“Oh! Oh yeah, is that okay? I figured since you call me Minnie and Seungminnie, I would return the favor.”

Hyunjin nods eagerly, and once again, Seungmin is reminded of the moon. “That’s totally fine. Perfect!”

And then Hyunjin is bidding him goodbye, and Seungmin is saying the same, and before long, Seungmin is once again alone in his room with his jumbled thoughts. Suffice it to say that confusion and uncertainty are the overwhelming emotions he’s feeling at the moment, followed by an immense amount of gratitude and appreciation and something akin to love for his three good friends.

He wants to change his bedsheets seeing as his friends all rubbed their germs on it, but Seungmin uses his sickness as an excuse to do it another time. If anything, it's probably best that he waits for his sickness to pass before he changes his sheets. He'll think about it later. Right now, he just wants to know who's giving him these notes.

He takes out all five of them. Seungmin takes note of how the hearts are cut evenly, surely done with practiced hands or scissored with an amount of meticulousness saved only for special occasions. He inspects their colors and is surprised to notice how the shades of each paper correspond to the flower the note had mentioned, and Seungmin finds that he's rather pleased with the amount of attention his admirer had put into the detail of it all. With a soft smile, Seungmin reads them to himself.

 _Things I adore about Kim Seungmin:_  
_his cherry-red hair~_  
_his genuine kindness~_  
_his perfect pearly whites~_  
_his adorable open-mouthed laugh~_ _  
his exquisite taste in fashion~_

How many more letters is he going to receive? Valentine's Day is right around the corner. He wonders which of his friends would be cute enough to write this, and finds that he can see all of them doing it. Jisung with his good heart, Felix with his caring nature, and Hyunjin with his strong emotions. Sighing, he gets ready for bed, slowly brushing his teeth and washing up, mind already in the clouds as soon as his head hits the pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with an update! This chapter is longer than usual. My chapters have been hovering around 3.8k, but this one is 5.5k. I actually had planned to add more, but I'll just include them in the next one, which I think is going to be lengthy as well, seeing as it's going to be the chapter for The Party.
> 
> Anyway! Self-edited. Sorry for the mistakes! Please point them out and tell me in the comments. Kudos and comments appreciated!
> 
> Tell me who you're rooting for! It's not going to change the ending, but I just want to know :')


End file.
